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Chapter 1- What Started in the Rain

This sucks. Majorly.

“It’ll be good for you to get to know your uncle better, you know.” Mom had said at the bus station six hours earlier as she triple checked to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything important. “He’s always so busy, so he can’t ever come up here to see us. You two will really like each other.”

“I thought he was supposed to be ‘a bitter old crazy hermit who hates all people?’” I shot back at her irritably, snatching my backpack back from her before she got a better look at some of the games I was bringing along and realized that they were above the T-rating that she had allotted me.

“Your father doesn’t mean it when he says things like that, Ryan.” Mom sighed, pursing her lips and giving me that look. The one I usually got when she overheard my friends making lewd comments about the girls at school. I never joined them, since I never saw the point. I mean, none of those girls would ever give a loser like me the time of day, so why bother? Besides, it was hard for me to find a girl hot when she and her friends do that ‘mean laugh’ thing every time they see me walk by. “Relationships between brothers are… complicated. You don’t understand, being an only child-”

“Thank God for small miracles.” I muttered, remembering some of my friends and their siblings, who always seemed to be fighting with one another.

“-but even though they don’t seem to get along, I’m sure your father and Uncle Walter love each other very much.”

Love. Right. That’s why they haven’t spoken to each other in over twenty years…

“At any rate, your uncle is really looking forward to spending a little time with you over the summer. And you’ll love the town he lives in, Ryan! Your father grew up in Brightwaters, and it’s absolutely down beautiful there! Especially the old castle sitting way up on the hill, I always thought that it looked like something from out of a fairytale. It has a beach too, so maybe you can find some other kids in town your age and go swimming.”

A fairytale castle? Beaches? If Mom thought any of this was helping me find Brightwaters any more appealing, then she needed to get some serious help. I’ve always hated swimming, since I have, like, zero stamina and look awful in a bathing suit. The castle was even less interesting. Why would I care about something so girly and lame as an old building that probably should have been torn down a century ago to make room for a new mall? I guess Mom could tell that I still wasn’t happy about any of this, since she kind of sighed in a defeated sort of way and gave me a worried look.

“Ryan, can’t you at least give it a chance? For your father and me? I promise it won’t be as bad as you think it’s going to be.”

“Whatever.” I muttered, shouldering my bags when I saw the bus opened its doors to let passengers on. Shaking her head, Mom leaned in to give me a hug.

“I’ll call you as soon as our plane lands to see if you made it okay.” She promised as I squirmed uncomfortably. Did she really have to do this in public…? “Make sure you listen to your uncle, and try to have fun this summer. Don’t be afraid to call us if something happens, and please get out of the house and make some new friends.” Normally, I’d defend the few friends I had from my Mom’s obvious dislike, but right now I was too busy being ticked at them for not helping me get out of having to spend the summer with my crazy uncle to care about Mom hating them.

“Yeah Mom.” I recited tonelessly, relieved when she finally released me from her death grip.

“I love you, sweetie.” Mom called after me as I got on the bus. “I’ll miss you!” The bus doors closed abruptly after Mom shouted this for the entire bus station to hear, saving me the awkwardness of replying but also forcing me to rush to find a seat before the driver took off.

Two and a half bumpy, mind numbing hours later, I finally found myself at the ancient wooden bench that apparently served as Brightwater’s bus station. Ironically enough, there was nothing bright at all about the place in the middle the killer storm that was whipping around me as I took cover under the slight protection of the bench’s leaky wooden roof. Teeth chattering, I pulled up my hood and made myself as small as possible against the violent winds and rain as I waited for my uncle to come pick me up.

That was three and a half hours ago. Just goes to show you how much my dear Uncle Walter was looking forward to spending time with me, huh?

Shivering against the cold, I glared at my dead cell phone, which I was now suffering for forgetting to charge the night before. Not that it would’ve been much help, since I didn’t have my uncle’s number and Mom and Dad probably still had their phones switched off for the plane ride to Japan. Who else could I really call right now? Granny Eliza on vacation in Hawaii? Oh sure, like that’ll help. She barely remembered who I was, no way could she help me contact a member of my Dad’s family she’s never even met before. Maybe I should just find a hotel or something and charge it to the emergency credit card mom and dad had left me. If this wasn’t an emergency, I’m not sure what is…

“My goodness, you’re still here?”

Jumping so high that I nearly hit the rickety roof over my bench, I twisted around to see who would dare to sneak up on a city kid on a dark, cold rainy night. With my recent run of luck, I was kinda expecting it to be an angry lumberjack with a bloody axe and a crazed look in his eyes, but instead it turned out to be a scrawny looking woman in her late twenties or so holding a black umbrella in one hand and an armful of grocery bags in the other and giving me a worried, motherly kind of frown.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, but I saw you sitting here when I went into the store two hours ago. Are you waiting for a bus or something, sweetie? I think they’ve stopped running for today, so you might want to find some real shelter before you catch you death out in this rain.”

“No ma’am.” I said, a little edgy. Paranoia does that to people, I’m told… “I’m waiting for my uncle to come pick me up. He was supposed to be here a while ago.”

“Your uncle, huh?” The woman said, looking at me curiously. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before, and I’m generally pretty good with faces… What’s your uncle’s name? Maybe I can help you with directions to his house. This town’s small enough that you could probably walk to wherever you need to go by foot…”

“Walter.” I answered immediately, willing to take any help this woman could give me, axe-murderer or no axe-murderer. “Walter Scultz.” As soon as that name passed my lips, the woman in front of me looked like she’d just smelled a rotten egg.

“Walter Scultz is your uncle?” She asked me incredulously, sighing after I nodded in confirmation. “Honestly, that crazy old man… What were your parents thinking when they decided that it was safe to leave another life in the care of someone like him?” Funny, I was kinda wondering the same thing at the moment…

“So you know him?” I asked impatiently, hoping the woman would take the hint and give me the directions I needed. Standing around in the rain wasn’t exactly my favorite pastime, you know.

“Oh, I doubt you’ll find anyone in town who doesn’t know old Walter, hon.” The woman replied, though from her tone I guess that wasn’t exactly a good thing. “That man’s caused more than his fair share of headaches around here, with all those strange schemes of his. There’s no denying that he’s brilliant, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a touch of insanity there as well.” Great. I’m gonna be living with a loon. Thanks Mom and Dad, thanks a load.

“Is his house nearby then?” I asked, seeing that this lady wasn’t gonna be supplying me that little tidbit any time soon if I let her carry on with her tirade.

“Walter lives at the edge of the town, way back in the woods.” She answered apologetically, absently blowing at a strand of strawberry blonde hair that was tugged out of her sloppy ponytail by a strong gust of wind. “If you’d like, I can give you a ride out there. It’ll be too far to walk on your own, and Walter doesn’t own a car.”

“What?!” I demanded, my jaw practically hitting the floor. “He doesn’t own a car?!” How come no one mentioned this to me sooner?! Dad wasn’t kidding, this guy really was a hermit. I thought cars were a necessity, like TVs or refrigerators. How were we supposed to go anywhere if he couldn’t drive? No way a town as small as this had a taxi service, and the only bus stop is for entering and leaving town…

“Walter’s a bit of a quiet man, as I’m sure you’ll find.” The woman explained with a light chuckle. “He goes everywhere he needs to be by foot, and doesn’t tend to gossip with others very often. He enjoys his solitude, that one. That’s why you’ll probably be needing a ride to his house, hon. He lives a little bit out of the way, and I’d worry if I let you walk all by yourself in this weather. My car’s just over here, and it won’t take more than a few minutes to drive you.” I hesitated for a second when the blonde started in the direction of a weathered old canary yellow pickup truck, finally making up my mind and following her as she threw her bags into a box she had strapped down in the truck’s bed.

The way I figured it, if she was a serial killer she probably would’ve done me in already, what with it being pitch black out and the rain and wind making enough noise to drown out any of my screams. Besides that, if she was planning on kidnapping me for ransom it’d totally serve my parents right for sending me here in the first place. Jumping into the passenger seat of the truck, any reservations I may have had melted instantly when the woman turned her key and beautiful, blessed warm air began blowing in my face.

“My name is Maribel, by the way.” The blond introduced herself, flashing me a bright smile. “Maribel Walmer. I’ve lived here in Brightwater for about twelve years now. And you?”

“Ryan Scultz.” I introduced myself, studying the woman who was giving me a ride in the flashes of passing streetlights. I couldn’t really make out any datails in the rain, but she was actually kinda pretty, in a sloppy overworked housemom kind of way. I could already notice that her curly strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a haphazard ponytail, with loose tendrils too short to be caught in her hair band coiling every which way, and her face was kinda rounded and rosy looking, with more freckles the I could ever count spread across her tanned cheeks. I couldn’t tell what color her eyes were in the dark, but I guessed either blue or green since they were too light to be brown.

“Where are you from, Ryan?” Ms Walmer asked curiously as she drove down the road. I kinda wished she’d turn the radio on, since the whole conversation with someone you barely know thins was more the a little awkward.

“Little city a couple miles north of here called Brookeburg.” I replied, relishing in the feeling that was returning to my cheeks and nose. Was it even legal for it to get this cold in the summer?

“Oh? And do you go to school in Brookeburg, Ryan?” Apparently Ms Walmer wasn’t as uncomfortable with the lack of distracting music as I was, since she had no problem carrying on our conversation.

“Yeah. Archwood High.” I answered, a little annoyed that I was now being forced to think of school again when I’d just gotten out the week before.

“Do you get good grades?”

“I guess…” Mom would have scoffed and rolled her eyes if she had heard me say that. Most of my grades were actually in a C-D range, which always seemed to surprise people. I guess everyone figured I would be smart looking at me, since I’m kinda like a tall, scrawny beanpole with wire framed glasses. In my defense though, I’d probably do better if I wasn’t always falling asleep in class from playing video games late at night…

“What’s your favorite class to take?” Lunch.

“I dunno. Computers, I guess.” That was true enough. I was actually pretty good with computers and electronics, though I made okay grades in English, too.

“Computers, huh?” Ms Walmer laughed. “I could never figure out how to work one of those things, to be honest. Ian’s fairly good with them though.”

“Ian? Is that your husband’s name?” I asked, getting a surprised look from Ms Walmer before she laughed loudly.

“Me and Ian? Goodness no! Ian’s a… a coworker of mine. He’s more tolerable then my other coworker. More patient, too. As bad as I may be with computers, at least I’ve never set one on fire because I couldn’t understand how to fix it.”

…What?

Before I could ask Ms Walmer what she meant about her coworker setting a computer on fire, we turned a corner and I froze as a large gothic castle resting at the top of a cliff in the distance suddenly came into view.

“Whoa…” I said as I drank in the sight of the building Mom had been gushing about earlier.

“You didn’t see Brightwater Castle earlier, sweetie?” Ms Walmer asked, sounding amused. “You can see it from virtually any place in town…” I shook my head in reply. Come to think of it, I should’ve been able to see it when the bus pulled into Brightwater. Guess I was too busy being mad at my parents to notice any large old buildings, though…

“Mom mentioned that there was some kinda ‘fairytale castle’ here, though.” I admitted, eyeing the castle critically. “Though if you ask me, that looks more like Dracula’s place then Cinderella’s.”

“I’m sure it’s just the atmosphere. Everything looks dark and scary during a storm, after all.” Maribel replied, sounding a tad defensive for some reason.

“Yeah, guess so. I mean, I’m pretty sure evil bloodsucking vampires wouldn’t live in a place with a cheery name like ‘Brightwater.’” I joked, grinning at Ms Walmer. My grin faded when I saw the expression on her face, like she’d just swallowed a lemon. “Uh, Ms Walmer? You okay?”

“Fine, sweetie, just fine.” She answered, giving me a rather forced looking smile. “Just a little stomachache is all…” I could tell she was lying, but didn’t force the subject since she obviously didn’t want to talk about it. The rest of the car ride consisted of ten straight minutes of Ms Walmer cheerfully rattling off every tourist trap she could remember in a hundred mile radius that she figured someone my age would like to go to as I nodded and ‘uh-huh’ed’ in the right places, only half listening since I wasn’t planning on leaving my uncle’s house until August, when my parents finally got back from their business trip.

Finally, we pulled up to a house deep in a wooded part of town, which Ms Walmer declared was owner by my uncle. I frowned as I studied the place, which was pretty big and old looking, but nowhere as impressive as the castle I’d just seen. The dark green paint on the siding was kinda fading and the white porch looked like it’d collapse at any given moment. I couldn’t see any other houses nearby, so obviously there weren't any neighbors or anything, which made sense with everything Ms Walmer had told me about Uncle Walter.

“Here you are, Ryan.” Ms Walmer said as she handed me the bags I’d thrown into the bed of her truck.

“Thank you.” I said, taking them from her. “And thanks for the ride, too.”

“Don’t mention it!” Ms Walmer laughed, waving her hand like she was swatting at an invisible fly. “Try to have some fun on your vacation, okay? And good luck with your uncle!”

“Thanks!” I called back, gathering my bags and making my way to the front porch. I stopped in front of the door, looking back over my shoulder to see Ms Walmer driving off in her yellow truck, probably heading home to her family. Come to think of it, she never told me where she lived… maybe I could find her address in a phone book or something, so I could thank her again. Logging this thought away for later, I turned back to the door and rang the doorbell, listening as the chime echoed deeply through the dark house. Waiting a while I frowned and tried the doorbell again and again. Was my uncle out, maybe?

“STOP LEANING ON THE DAMN BELL ALREADY!” Screaming, I jumped back at the loud, angry bellow from somewhere above me, tripping over one of my bags and falling painfully to the ground as I did.

“H-hello?!” I called out as I scrambled back to my feet, wincing against the throbbing pain in my arm, which got scrapped up pretty badly in my fall.

“The door’s unlocked, brat!” The voice from earlier shouted back in reply. “Hurry up and get in the house!” This order was followed by a loud slamming noise, which was probably a window getting shut. Scowling to myself, I roughly yanked my bags up and tested the door, which was open just as I was told.

“Uncle Walter?” I called out once I was inside, squinting around in the darkness. Catching a scuffling noise upstairs I automatically started upward, spotting one room with light spilling out from the thin gap between the door and the floor. Heading towards the room, I knocked softly on the wooden surface. “Uncle Walter?” I jumped again when the door immediately swung open, and I came face-to-chest with the surliest looking old man I’d ever met, with coarse dark gray hair flecked with brown and black strands here and there and a broad build that was nothing like Dad’s own slim, lean frame. Bushy white eyebrows almost hid his blue-grey eyes entirely, which were currently busy glaring at me like I’d just killed his puppy.

“Dammit kid, what now?!” He demanded impatiently. I glared back, finally killing the ‘nice kid’ act.

“Hey! What’s your problem?! I’m the one who had to wait it the rain for three hours because you never showed up!” I reminded him, pointing out a nearby window to the storm outside as evidence.

“What, you couldn’t walk here?” Uncle Walter scoffed in return. I wanted to hit him for a second, but after judging how much bigger he was them me, I decided against it.

“How did you expect me to find this place when I’ve never been here before?” I asked instead, scowling as the old man rolled his eyes.

“What are you, four?” He demanded. “Use your brain, kid! You got one of those?” I could feel my face heat up at my uncle’s taunt. Suddenly, I could see why Dad lost contact with this guy for twenty-odd years…

“Whatever!” I snapped back. “Just tell me which room I’m staying in and I’ll stay out of your way for the rest of the summer.”

“Pick whichever one you want, kid.” Uncle Walter replied, turning and heading back the way he came. Looking around, I realized it was some kind of office or something, lined with old books that were almost falling apart. The only furniture in the room other then the books was a thick old desk where an outdated desktop computer sat, half hidden under scrap paper and sticky notes, and the computer chair in front of it, which looked new and completely out of place.

Come to think of it, Mom mentioned he was a writer or something…

Turning away, I decided that it was none of my business anyways. What did I care what some cranky old jerk did for a living?

“Hey, brat!” Scowling, I turned back around at my uncle’s call.

“My name is Ryan, you know.” I told him sourly. Uncle Walter didn’t seem to care much what my name was, though, since he wordlessly shoved a piece of paper into my chest. Frowning, I took the paper from him and looked down at it curiously, puzzled when I saw it was written in some other language. “What’s this?”

“Your letter of recommendation, or something to that effect.” Uncle Walter answered. “A buddy of mine is looking for some help over the summer, so I got him to hire you.” What?!

“You got me a summer job?!” I asked, my jaw dropping at this man’s audacity. “Doing what?!”

“Odd jobs, mostly.” My uncle shrugged carelessly. “He just wanted someone around to give his regular staff a hand, since things are gonna get rough soon, so I told him you’d do it.” And just where did he get off volunteering my summer away in some store?! I had better things to do, and no way could this old creep make me go to work for his friend. What was the worst he could do if I said no, throw me out? At this point, I’d celebrate if he did.

“Now hang on a second! I never agreed to-!”

“It pays thirty bucks an hour.”

…Then again, it wasn’t like I had anything else I was planning on doing over the summer.

“When do I start?”

“Tomorrow at ten. You should probably wear clothes you’re not all that attached to, DuMont’s probably gonna start you on the dirty jobs.” Of course. I wrinkled my nose at the thought. Ah, well. For thirty bucks an hour, I’m pretty sure I could handle almost anything.

“Right. I’ll see if I have anything.” Turning away, I started down the hall to see if I could find an empty room to put my things.

“And brat?” Pausing, I looked over my shoulder, unease pooling in my stomach when my uncle smiled at for the first time since I got in the house. Not a nice ‘I’m-glad-you’re-here’ kind of smile, but more like something a cat would wear just before it swallowed the canary. “Good luck. You’re gonna need it.” And, without another word of explanation, Uncle Walter retreated back into his office, leaving me to stare at the door he’d shut behind him.

Oookay, what was that about?

Shaking my head, I picked up all my bags and headed down the hall, opening doors and peering inside as I went. Bathroom. Closet. Some kind of library… Finally, I found what looked like a spare bedroom. Throwing my things on the floor, I kicked off my shoes and threw my hoodie on the floor before I fell onto the bed, yawning loudly. Man, I hadn’t realized how tired I was after everything that went down today… And I still had to get up tomorrow to go to my new job, too.

Whatever, though. I’d deal with all that later. Right now, it was time for me to get some much needed sleep. Yawning again, I rolled over and stared sleepily out the window, studying that weird Frankenstein castle on the hill. Through the darkness and rain, I thought could sorta see one window was lit way up in one of the towers, and a figure that looked like it was moving around the room, like a ghost or something. Giving a short snort of laugher, I closed my eyes. Stupid paranoia…

Two seconds later, a wolf howled loudly, and my eyes shot right back open.

Great.

Description
Chapter 1- What Started in the Rain

This sucks. Majorly.

“It’ll be good for you to get to know your uncle better, you know.” Mom had said at the bus station six hours earlier as she triple checked to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything important. “He’s always so busy, so he can’t ever come up here to see us. You two will really like each other.”

“I thought he was supposed to be ‘a bitter old crazy hermit who hates all people?’” I shot back at her irritably, snatching my backpack back from her before she got a better look at some of the games I was bringing along and realized that they were above the T-rating that she had allotted me.

“Your father doesn’t mean it when he says things like that, Ryan.” Mom sighed, pursing her lips and giving me that look. The one I usually got when she overheard my friends making lewd comments about the girls at school. I never joined them, since I never saw the point. I mean, none of those girls would ever give a loser like me the time of day, so why bother? Besides, it was hard for me to find a girl hot when she and her friends do that ‘mean laugh’ thing every time they see me walk by. “Relationships between brothers are… complicated. You don’t understand, being an only child-”

“Thank God for small miracles.” I muttered, remembering some of my friends and their siblings, who always seemed to be fighting with one another.

“-but even though they don’t seem to get along, I’m sure your father and Uncle Walter love each other very much.”

Love. Right. That’s why they haven’t spoken to each other in over twenty years…

“At any rate, your uncle is really looking forward to spending a little time with you over the summer. And you’ll love the town he lives in, Ryan! Your father grew up in Brightwaters, and it’s absolutely down beautiful there! Especially the old castle sitting way up on the hill, I always thought that it looked like something from out of a fairytale. It has a beach too, so maybe you can find some other kids in town your age and go swimming.”

A fairytale castle? Beaches? If Mom thought any of this was helping me find Brightwaters any more appealing, then she needed to get some serious help. I’ve always hated swimming, since I have, like, zero stamina and look awful in a bathing suit. The castle was even less interesting. Why would I care about something so girly and lame as an old building that probably should have been torn down a century ago to make room for a new mall? I guess Mom could tell that I still wasn’t happy about any of this, since she kind of sighed in a defeated sort of way and gave me a worried look.

“Ryan, can’t you at least give it a chance? For your father and me? I promise it won’t be as bad as you think it’s going to be.”

“Whatever.” I muttered, shouldering my bags when I saw the bus opened its doors to let passengers on. Shaking her head, Mom leaned in to give me a hug.

“I’ll call you as soon as our plane lands to see if you made it okay.” She promised as I squirmed uncomfortably. Did she really have to do this in public…? “Make sure you listen to your uncle, and try to have fun this summer. Don’t be afraid to call us if something happens, and please get out of the house and make some new friends.” Normally, I’d defend the few friends I had from my Mom’s obvious dislike, but right now I was too busy being ticked at them for not helping me get out of having to spend the summer with my crazy uncle to care about Mom hating them.

“Yeah Mom.” I recited tonelessly, relieved when she finally released me from her death grip.

“I love you, sweetie.” Mom called after me as I got on the bus. “I’ll miss you!” The bus doors closed abruptly after Mom shouted this for the entire bus station to hear, saving me the awkwardness of replying but also forcing me to rush to find a seat before the driver took off.

Two and a half bumpy, mind numbing hours later, I finally found myself at the ancient wooden bench that apparently served as Brightwater’s bus station. Ironically enough, there was nothing bright at all about the place in the middle the killer storm that was whipping around me as I took cover under the slight protection of the bench’s leaky wooden roof. Teeth chattering, I pulled up my hood and made myself as small as possible against the violent winds and rain as I waited for my uncle to come pick me up.

That was three and a half hours ago. Just goes to show you how much my dear Uncle Walter was looking forward to spending time with me, huh?

Shivering against the cold, I glared at my dead cell phone, which I was now suffering for forgetting to charge the night before. Not that it would’ve been much help, since I didn’t have my uncle’s number and Mom and Dad probably still had their phones switched off for the plane ride to Japan. Who else could I really call right now? Granny Eliza on vacation in Hawaii? Oh sure, like that’ll help. She barely remembered who I was, no way could she help me contact a member of my Dad’s family she’s never even met before. Maybe I should just find a hotel or something and charge it to the emergency credit card mom and dad had left me. If this wasn’t an emergency, I’m not sure what is…

“My goodness, you’re still here?”

Jumping so high that I nearly hit the rickety roof over my bench, I twisted around to see who would dare to sneak up on a city kid on a dark, cold rainy night. With my recent run of luck, I was kinda expecting it to be an angry lumberjack with a bloody axe and a crazed look in his eyes, but instead it turned out to be a scrawny looking woman in her late twenties or so holding a black umbrella in one hand and an armful of grocery bags in the other and giving me a worried, motherly kind of frown.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, but I saw you sitting here when I went into the store two hours ago. Are you waiting for a bus or something, sweetie? I think they’ve stopped running for today, so you might want to find some real shelter before you catch you death out in this rain.”

“No ma’am.” I said, a little edgy. Paranoia does that to people, I’m told… “I’m waiting for my uncle to come pick me up. He was supposed to be here a while ago.”

“Your uncle, huh?” The woman said, looking at me curiously. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before, and I’m generally pretty good with faces… What’s your uncle’s name? Maybe I can help you with directions to his house. This town’s small enough that you could probably walk to wherever you need to go by foot…”

“Walter.” I answered immediately, willing to take any help this woman could give me, axe-murderer or no axe-murderer. “Walter Scultz.” As soon as that name passed my lips, the woman in front of me looked like she’d just smelled a rotten egg.

“Walter Scultz is your uncle?” She asked me incredulously, sighing after I nodded in confirmation. “Honestly, that crazy old man… What were your parents thinking when they decided that it was safe to leave another life in the care of someone like him?” Funny, I was kinda wondering the same thing at the moment…

“So you know him?” I asked impatiently, hoping the woman would take the hint and give me the directions I needed. Standing around in the rain wasn’t exactly my favorite pastime, you know.

“Oh, I doubt you’ll find anyone in town who doesn’t know old Walter, hon.” The woman replied, though from her tone I guess that wasn’t exactly a good thing. “That man’s caused more than his fair share of headaches around here, with all those strange schemes of his. There’s no denying that he’s brilliant, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a touch of insanity there as well.” Great. I’m gonna be living with a loon. Thanks Mom and Dad, thanks a load.

“Is his house nearby then?” I asked, seeing that this lady wasn’t gonna be supplying me that little tidbit any time soon if I let her carry on with her tirade.

“Walter lives at the edge of the town, way back in the woods.” She answered apologetically, absently blowing at a strand of strawberry blonde hair that was tugged out of her sloppy ponytail by a strong gust of wind. “If you’d like, I can give you a ride out there. It’ll be too far to walk on your own, and Walter doesn’t own a car.”

“What?!” I demanded, my jaw practically hitting the floor. “He doesn’t own a car?!” How come no one mentioned this to me sooner?! Dad wasn’t kidding, this guy really was a hermit. I thought cars were a necessity, like TVs or refrigerators. How were we supposed to go anywhere if he couldn’t drive? No way a town as small as this had a taxi service, and the only bus stop is for entering and leaving town…

“Walter’s a bit of a quiet man, as I’m sure you’ll find.” The woman explained with a light chuckle. “He goes everywhere he needs to be by foot, and doesn’t tend to gossip with others very often. He enjoys his solitude, that one. That’s why you’ll probably be needing a ride to his house, hon. He lives a little bit out of the way, and I’d worry if I let you walk all by yourself in this weather. My car’s just over here, and it won’t take more than a few minutes to drive you.” I hesitated for a second when the blonde started in the direction of a weathered old canary yellow pickup truck, finally making up my mind and following her as she threw her bags into a box she had strapped down in the truck’s bed.

The way I figured it, if she was a serial killer she probably would’ve done me in already, what with it being pitch black out and the rain and wind making enough noise to drown out any of my screams. Besides that, if she was planning on kidnapping me for ransom it’d totally serve my parents right for sending me here in the first place. Jumping into the passenger seat of the truck, any reservations I may have had melted instantly when the woman turned her key and beautiful, blessed warm air began blowing in my face.

“My name is Maribel, by the way.” The blond introduced herself, flashing me a bright smile. “Maribel Walmer. I’ve lived here in Brightwater for about twelve years now. And you?”

“Ryan Scultz.” I introduced myself, studying the woman who was giving me a ride in the flashes of passing streetlights. I couldn’t really make out any datails in the rain, but she was actually kinda pretty, in a sloppy overworked housemom kind of way. I could already notice that her curly strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a haphazard ponytail, with loose tendrils too short to be caught in her hair band coiling every which way, and her face was kinda rounded and rosy looking, with more freckles the I could ever count spread across her tanned cheeks. I couldn’t tell what color her eyes were in the dark, but I guessed either blue or green since they were too light to be brown.

“Where are you from, Ryan?” Ms Walmer asked curiously as she drove down the road. I kinda wished she’d turn the radio on, since the whole conversation with someone you barely know thins was more the a little awkward.

“Little city a couple miles north of here called Brookeburg.” I replied, relishing in the feeling that was returning to my cheeks and nose. Was it even legal for it to get this cold in the summer?

“Oh? And do you go to school in Brookeburg, Ryan?” Apparently Ms Walmer wasn’t as uncomfortable with the lack of distracting music as I was, since she had no problem carrying on our conversation.

“Yeah. Archwood High.” I answered, a little annoyed that I was now being forced to think of school again when I’d just gotten out the week before.

“Do you get good grades?”

“I guess…” Mom would have scoffed and rolled her eyes if she had heard me say that. Most of my grades were actually in a C-D range, which always seemed to surprise people. I guess everyone figured I would be smart looking at me, since I’m kinda like a tall, scrawny beanpole with wire framed glasses. In my defense though, I’d probably do better if I wasn’t always falling asleep in class from playing video games late at night…

“What’s your favorite class to take?” Lunch.

“I dunno. Computers, I guess.” That was true enough. I was actually pretty good with computers and electronics, though I made okay grades in English, too.

“Computers, huh?” Ms Walmer laughed. “I could never figure out how to work one of those things, to be honest. Ian’s fairly good with them though.”

“Ian? Is that your husband’s name?” I asked, getting a surprised look from Ms Walmer before she laughed loudly.

“Me and Ian? Goodness no! Ian’s a… a coworker of mine. He’s more tolerable then my other coworker. More patient, too. As bad as I may be with computers, at least I’ve never set one on fire because I couldn’t understand how to fix it.”

…What?

Before I could ask Ms Walmer what she meant about her coworker setting a computer on fire, we turned a corner and I froze as a large gothic castle resting at the top of a cliff in the distance suddenly came into view.

“Whoa…” I said as I drank in the sight of the building Mom had been gushing about earlier.

“You didn’t see Brightwater Castle earlier, sweetie?” Ms Walmer asked, sounding amused. “You can see it from virtually any place in town…” I shook my head in reply. Come to think of it, I should’ve been able to see it when the bus pulled into Brightwater. Guess I was too busy being mad at my parents to notice any large old buildings, though…

“Mom mentioned that there was some kinda ‘fairytale castle’ here, though.” I admitted, eyeing the castle critically. “Though if you ask me, that looks more like Dracula’s place then Cinderella’s.”

“I’m sure it’s just the atmosphere. Everything looks dark and scary during a storm, after all.” Maribel replied, sounding a tad defensive for some reason.

“Yeah, guess so. I mean, I’m pretty sure evil bloodsucking vampires wouldn’t live in a place with a cheery name like ‘Brightwater.’” I joked, grinning at Ms Walmer. My grin faded when I saw the expression on her face, like she’d just swallowed a lemon. “Uh, Ms Walmer? You okay?”

“Fine, sweetie, just fine.” She answered, giving me a rather forced looking smile. “Just a little stomachache is all…” I could tell she was lying, but didn’t force the subject since she obviously didn’t want to talk about it. The rest of the car ride consisted of ten straight minutes of Ms Walmer cheerfully rattling off every tourist trap she could remember in a hundred mile radius that she figured someone my age would like to go to as I nodded and ‘uh-huh’ed’ in the right places, only half listening since I wasn’t planning on leaving my uncle’s house until August, when my parents finally got back from their business trip.

Finally, we pulled up to a house deep in a wooded part of town, which Ms Walmer declared was owner by my uncle. I frowned as I studied the place, which was pretty big and old looking, but nowhere as impressive as the castle I’d just seen. The dark green paint on the siding was kinda fading and the white porch looked like it’d collapse at any given moment. I couldn’t see any other houses nearby, so obviously there weren't any neighbors or anything, which made sense with everything Ms Walmer had told me about Uncle Walter.

“Here you are, Ryan.” Ms Walmer said as she handed me the bags I’d thrown into the bed of her truck.

“Thank you.” I said, taking them from her. “And thanks for the ride, too.”

“Don’t mention it!” Ms Walmer laughed, waving her hand like she was swatting at an invisible fly. “Try to have some fun on your vacation, okay? And good luck with your uncle!”

“Thanks!” I called back, gathering my bags and making my way to the front porch. I stopped in front of the door, looking back over my shoulder to see Ms Walmer driving off in her yellow truck, probably heading home to her family. Come to think of it, she never told me where she lived… maybe I could find her address in a phone book or something, so I could thank her again. Logging this thought away for later, I turned back to the door and rang the doorbell, listening as the chime echoed deeply through the dark house. Waiting a while I frowned and tried the doorbell again and again. Was my uncle out, maybe?

“STOP LEANING ON THE DAMN BELL ALREADY!” Screaming, I jumped back at the loud, angry bellow from somewhere above me, tripping over one of my bags and falling painfully to the ground as I did.

“H-hello?!” I called out as I scrambled back to my feet, wincing against the throbbing pain in my arm, which got scrapped up pretty badly in my fall.

“The door’s unlocked, brat!” The voice from earlier shouted back in reply. “Hurry up and get in the house!” This order was followed by a loud slamming noise, which was probably a window getting shut. Scowling to myself, I roughly yanked my bags up and tested the door, which was open just as I was told.

“Uncle Walter?” I called out once I was inside, squinting around in the darkness. Catching a scuffling noise upstairs I automatically started upward, spotting one room with light spilling out from the thin gap between the door and the floor. Heading towards the room, I knocked softly on the wooden surface. “Uncle Walter?” I jumped again when the door immediately swung open, and I came face-to-chest with the surliest looking old man I’d ever met, with coarse dark gray hair flecked with brown and black strands here and there and a broad build that was nothing like Dad’s own slim, lean frame. Bushy white eyebrows almost hid his blue-grey eyes entirely, which were currently busy glaring at me like I’d just killed his puppy.

“Dammit kid, what now?!” He demanded impatiently. I glared back, finally killing the ‘nice kid’ act.

“Hey! What’s your problem?! I’m the one who had to wait it the rain for three hours because you never showed up!” I reminded him, pointing out a nearby window to the storm outside as evidence.

“What, you couldn’t walk here?” Uncle Walter scoffed in return. I wanted to hit him for a second, but after judging how much bigger he was them me, I decided against it.

“How did you expect me to find this place when I’ve never been here before?” I asked instead, scowling as the old man rolled his eyes.

“What are you, four?” He demanded. “Use your brain, kid! You got one of those?” I could feel my face heat up at my uncle’s taunt. Suddenly, I could see why Dad lost contact with this guy for twenty-odd years…

“Whatever!” I snapped back. “Just tell me which room I’m staying in and I’ll stay out of your way for the rest of the summer.”

“Pick whichever one you want, kid.” Uncle Walter replied, turning and heading back the way he came. Looking around, I realized it was some kind of office or something, lined with old books that were almost falling apart. The only furniture in the room other then the books was a thick old desk where an outdated desktop computer sat, half hidden under scrap paper and sticky notes, and the computer chair in front of it, which looked new and completely out of place.

Come to think of it, Mom mentioned he was a writer or something…

Turning away, I decided that it was none of my business anyways. What did I care what some cranky old jerk did for a living?

“Hey, brat!” Scowling, I turned back around at my uncle’s call.

“My name is Ryan, you know.” I told him sourly. Uncle Walter didn’t seem to care much what my name was, though, since he wordlessly shoved a piece of paper into my chest. Frowning, I took the paper from him and looked down at it curiously, puzzled when I saw it was written in some other language. “What’s this?”

“Your letter of recommendation, or something to that effect.” Uncle Walter answered. “A buddy of mine is looking for some help over the summer, so I got him to hire you.” What?!

“You got me a summer job?!” I asked, my jaw dropping at this man’s audacity. “Doing what?!”

“Odd jobs, mostly.” My uncle shrugged carelessly. “He just wanted someone around to give his regular staff a hand, since things are gonna get rough soon, so I told him you’d do it.” And just where did he get off volunteering my summer away in some store?! I had better things to do, and no way could this old creep make me go to work for his friend. What was the worst he could do if I said no, throw me out? At this point, I’d celebrate if he did.

“Now hang on a second! I never agreed to-!”

“It pays thirty bucks an hour.”

…Then again, it wasn’t like I had anything else I was planning on doing over the summer.

“When do I start?”

“Tomorrow at ten. You should probably wear clothes you’re not all that attached to, DuMont’s probably gonna start you on the dirty jobs.” Of course. I wrinkled my nose at the thought. Ah, well. For thirty bucks an hour, I’m pretty sure I could handle almost anything.

“Right. I’ll see if I have anything.” Turning away, I started down the hall to see if I could find an empty room to put my things.

“And brat?” Pausing, I looked over my shoulder, unease pooling in my stomach when my uncle smiled at for the first time since I got in the house. Not a nice ‘I’m-glad-you’re-here’ kind of smile, but more like something a cat would wear just before it swallowed the canary. “Good luck. You’re gonna need it.” And, without another word of explanation, Uncle Walter retreated back into his office, leaving me to stare at the door he’d shut behind him.

Oookay, what was that about?

Shaking my head, I picked up all my bags and headed down the hall, opening doors and peering inside as I went. Bathroom. Closet. Some kind of library… Finally, I found what looked like a spare bedroom. Throwing my things on the floor, I kicked off my shoes and threw my hoodie on the floor before I fell onto the bed, yawning loudly. Man, I hadn’t realized how tired I was after everything that went down today… And I still had to get up tomorrow to go to my new job, too.

Whatever, though. I’d deal with all that later. Right now, it was time for me to get some much needed sleep. Yawning again, I rolled over and stared sleepily out the window, studying that weird Frankenstein castle on the hill. Through the darkness and rain, I thought could sorta see one window was lit way up in one of the towers, and a figure that looked like it was moving around the room, like a ghost or something. Giving a short snort of laugher, I closed my eyes. Stupid paranoia…

Two seconds later, a wolf howled loudly, and my eyes shot right back open.

Great.