Autumn Forest
Greenville, South Carolina
September 22, 2018
'Police continue to search for Jack around the location of the Louis Family residence where he allegedly disappeared on the night of the tragic murder. He was found three days later by a neighbor's dog in the old garden which was right in the backyard of his neighbor, Mr Silvester's house. Jack was found very pale, sitting curled up on a stone chair right next to the old well.
No one knew where he went and where he hid for three days. He never gave any answers whenever doctors, police or his parents tried to ask him for information. After that terrible event, a series of mysterious events began to occur in the city. Some residents often hear the howling of a big wolf and see a dog barking behind their house. Some people even claimed that their dogs and cats mysteriously disappeared for three days and when they returned home, the dogs and cats behaved strangely, such as biting suddenly and acting aggressively.
A man who did not want to be named admitted that he found his dog's carcass lying on the river bank while he was jogging in the morning, even though a few minutes earlier he had just fed his dog at home. He recognized his dog from the collar that was still tied around the dog's neck.
These strange and mysterious things had never happened before, people began to associate this incident with the history of the Louis family, which is said to have been the ancestor of the Louis family who was a legendary witch who was burned by the residents after a deadly plague appeared and caused the death of hundreds of people in 1518 or about 500 years ago.
Resentful of the accusations that led to him being burned alive, he cursed all the people living in the Appalachian Mountains region that they would face terror after terror that would come through terrible creatures that would disturb and stalk them from behind the darkness.'
"Is it finished? That's all? What's next?" Melisa tried to flip through the pages of the newspaper that her father had written eight years ago.
"What else did you expect? Did you hope that I would direct all these accusations towards the Louis Family?" Mr. James asked. He sipped his black coffee after finishing a plate of American Breakfast cooked by his beloved wife.
"It's not like that, but doesn't this seem like a cliffhanger? People who read it will definitely hope for an interesting ending, right?"
"The story I wrote is only a form of public opinion that developed two years after that event."
"But, why do people make terrible events that happen in other people's lives into urban legends? Isn't that cruel? The Louis family has lost three members of their family and after that incident they have to get bad rumors."
Max hit Melisa's head lightly, who continued to protest against everything that disturbed her mind. He didn't know that his little sister would grow up to be a talkative girl after they hadn't seen each other for almost three years.
"If you have a highly curious soul like that, it's better if you just major in journalism. Why major in music?"
"Because I want to be a singer like Taylor Swift."
"Hahaha...you won't be able to do it even if you practice vocals. Your voice is like the sound of a pig being slaughtered!"
"Shut up! You're the pig!"
"You two stop arguing! Max, Mr. Norman called me yesterday, he asked you to come early to his car repair shop. You always come late. Melisa, look what time it is? This is your first day, isn't it? Hurry up and leave or your lecturer will embarrass you!"
"Okay, Mom, Dad, I'll go, see you?"
"Are you sure you want to drive alone? How about I take you?"
"No need, Dad!" She said excitedly. How come? Her father bought her a car for her high school graduation ceremony and even though it had been eight years since she lived in New York with her uncle and her aunt, she still remembered the streets of her hometown quite well.
Melisa drives her car while playing songs on the music player. She hummed happily because after a long struggle to be allowed to return to live in this city, it had finally paid off.
Eight years ago, her parents sent her to live with her uncle and aunt who lived in New York. She never knew the reason why, every time she asked, her parents would come up with some strange excuse that she could never accept.
During the five years after she lived in New York, the relationship between her and her parents deteriorated. She ignores them when they come to visit her and causes arguments with her older brother, Maxime which always annoys her.
But now, that she was 18 years old and she was old enough to take care of herself, she managed to persuade her father and mother to let her return to this city.
"Louis Family Residence?" She muttered reading an inscription engraved on the front fence of a classic-style luxury house whose architecture resembled a castle.
This house is only 700 meters from her house, but it is very rare that there are other houses around this house apart from the house which is right next to this family's house.
The environment of this house is surrounded by tall trees which at night will certainly look very scary. She didn't understand why anyone would want to live in such a quiet environment in a house this big and spacious.
"This is the family house that dad wrote about in the newspaper, right?"
Melisa deliberately stopped her car in front of the fence just to see the true situation of the house, where the most sadistic and terrifying incident in the city had occurred. But strangely, she felt that this house was very familiar in her memories. As if she had been in this place before.
"Have I been here before? Strange, but why can't I remember?" She was anxious because she couldn't remember anything. When her eyes looked at the watch on her hand, she realized that she didn't have much time.
She got back into her car and started driving again, but only 10 meters away, a young man came out of the tree area opposite the Louis family's house. The young man just appeared and walked along the side of the road with calm steps, he was carrying a backpack on his back.
Surprised by the sudden appearance of this strange young man, Melisa spontaneously stopped her car after realizing that she had lost focus and almost hit a tree.
"Where did he appear from? From that forest?" She thought. Upset about the near miss, she immediately got out of her car to demand accountability from the strange man who ran out of the woods and startled passersby.
"Hey, what are you doing? Look, I almost hit a tree!" She said protesting.
The young man stopped walking and looked back, his eyes widened as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Seeing the young man's face, Melisa immediately fell silent, especially as the young man glared at her as if he was disturbed by her screams.
"Who are you talking to?" Asked the young man in a cold voice.
The autumn wind blows the leaves. For some reason she felt colder than usual. The young man looked at her with his brightly shining amber eyes and expressionless face that looked strange.
Even though his face was so handsome, Melisa felt that she was in a situation where she couldn't praise this strange young man. Moreover, the situation around this place was very quiet and that made her a little worried.
"That's bad, what did I do? I shouldn't have had to get out of the car just to shout at him. He was carrying a backpack, what if there was a sharp weapon or a gun in his backpack?" She thought. She started to think too much because she read too much crime news that her father wrote in the newspaper.
"S-sorry, I didn't mean to, hmm...okay excuse me-"
"Who are you talking to?" Once again, the young man asked the same question and it succeeded in making her even more frightened.
"O-of course talking to you? Who else?" Her answer was confused.
The young man's eyes became sharper, both surprised and angry. Feeling that she would be in trouble if she didn't get out of here immediately, she cautiously got back into her car and hastily closed the door.
Melisa immediately drove her car, but when she glanced in the rearview mirror to see if the young man would follow her, she was surprised because the young man was no longer there. He disappeared very quickly like a gust of wind.
Melisa shuddered, even though she had confirmed many times that the young man had really disappeared.
"Where did he go? Why so fast?"