Payton

 Here's what I promised yesterday. 

So...I went down to the ice cream shop. Really, I just wanted something cold and sugary to hopefully jumpstart my brain a little bit. 

Payton was working again, and I could tell she looked genuinely surprised to see me. Her eyebrows shot up and she looked like she was seeing a ghost. She didn't actually say anything about it though; she just gave me my ice cream. But she didn't make me pay for it, which considering the week I've had was nice.

I waited until the store was empty to ask her about what happened on Memorial Day weekend. She tried to dodge my questions and change the topic, but I was exhausted and I had no patience, so I straight up told her to cut the bullshit. 

She did tell me some things, but I am 100% sure she knows more.

Here's what she told me: 

1. There is something in the woods that takes people (thanks, Sherlock).

2. She sometimes knows who it is going to take (I asked her how and she refused to elaborate). 

3. She wanted to try and save the woman (I...don't quite believe this. The way she said it was just...off. Like it was an excuse, but also not? I don't know how to explain it).

4. She knew I had been poking around and I was the only one paying any sort of attention, so I was the best bet (again, I don't quite believe this).

And then her mother called the store and they had some sort of conversation that I couldn't really make anything of, and suddenly Payton got really closed-off and she told me to leave. It was kind of eerie. 

It was even weirder when I walked outside and got in my car, and her younger brother Peter pulled up on his motorcycle. The kid gave me the weirdest look. It was...almost hungry. That's the only way I can describe it. Like he literally wanted to sink his teeth into me. And for a second, his eyes looked really dark, like they had turned black (well...not exactly black. It was weird. They were like...black and blue? Like the white part of his eyes turned black. He has really, really blue eyes so it stood out to me).

I left really fast after that.