We are deep in the story here. Want to start from the beginning?

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“Have you had any sleep yet?” Sandy asked the Innkeeper as she danced down the stairs. The Innkeeper looked up and laughed.

“No, no sleep. We’ve been cleaning ever since the last one nodded off,” he said, gesturing to a pile of revelers passed out on the floor. Sandy giggled quietly so as not to wake them.

“You mentioned coffee?” she whispered.

The Innkeeper mouthed “Ah” and then leaned the mop against the wall. He gestured for Sandy to follow him. He pulled a few chairs that had been put on the table for cleaning back down again and asked one of his staff to fetch some fresh coffee. Sandy sat down, and the Innkeeper scooted closer.

“I didn’t catch your name yesterday,” Sandy said.

“David,” he said with a smile, “And you are Sandy?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The staff member came back to the table with two large mugs of fresh coffee.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I get this from Vertex,” he whispered. “Import it right in, over the bridge. It was the biggest thing I missed when I came over.”

Sandy couldn’t help but glance at his forearm as he spoke, then quickly snapped her gaze back to his eyes.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s an impulse. I didn’t notice the tattoo yesterday…”

“No, no, that’s fine,” he chuckled. “My sleeves keep it hidden.”

He pulled his sleeve up, and she saw the single arrow.

“I came over at the first opportunity. I knew I wanted to be in hospitality, but over there, it’s a completely different game. It’s all about who you know and who comes to your venue… You know. Fancy influencers and being in the know right now… I can’t be arsed. For me, it’s about giving people a home when they miss theirs; you know what I mean? Warm bed, good coffee… You focus on doing that for clients; people will come without having to worry about reviews and stars. “

Sandy nodded.

“Now, that I would believe,” she agreed. She took a deep slurp of her coffee. “And that really is some dang good coffee.”

David chuckled.

“Little things, you know,” he said, taking a drink himself.

“Look, I don’t want to pester you,” Sandy said, putting her coffee down. “But it did feel like yesterday you were holding back on… well, the monster that plagues our town?”

David nodded firmly.

“Yes, yes…” he replied. “I didn’t want to freak everyone out, or I guess put a damper on the evening’s festivities. Everyone, it seemed, was letting their hair down and enjoying a stress-free environment of that beast. I know that some of your friends and leaders are on their way up to kill the thing, and like, seriously. You have my condolences. But you have to know, all of you should have left years ago. I know I would have. In fact, when I came here, I thought about moving closer to the waterfall and river. Thought it would be real nice, you know? I could do fishing trips on my afternoon off. But when I heard what kind of man-eating terror you have up there – sorry – person-eating. Didn’t mean offense. But when I heard about it, I was like – No way, José!”

Sandy nodded. “Yes, no, I hear you, David. A lot of people talk about leaving, but it’s the memories that make you stay.”

“Oh, for sure, for sure,” David said with a serious face. “But look. I’m going to be honest with you, because I think you are a nice person. You lot are not the first to come ‘out’ of that town. There have been some others who have snuck through, ever since I’ve been here, anyway. But there was one guy… I mean, I’m talking like almost a decade ago, you know. Ok, maybe not a decade, maybe four years. Maybe longer. He came through here, and he stayed. Moved to a spot on the outskirts of town. And, I don’t know, I guess, with everyone from your town, it got me thinking about other people who had come through from your town.”

Sandy tried to think who it could be. She knew of teenagers who had made a run for it. They had youth on their side, with no fear of change or a past to anchor them.

“Was it a young person?”

“No, no. Not particularly. A person of similar age to us.”

Sandy pulled back a little. That piece of info surprised her. She couldn’t think of anyone in her circles, or similar, who had disappeared.

‘Do you have a name?” she asked.

“Thomas. Thomas Lynia.”

Sandy gasped, leaning back as her fingers flew to her lips.

“That’s Keira’s dad…” she whispered.

“Who is Keira?” David asked.

Sandy looked out the window. The morning light was now shining through from the distance, and she could see the mountain clearly. The waterfall looked so still from here. Which was ironic, given the horror that lay beyond it.

“Keira was the one who started it all,” she said.

David nodded as if what she said made sense, but if truth be told, he didn’t understand what she was on about. A staff member appeared from the kitchen and whispered something in his ear about a blocked drain.

“Yes, yes,” he said, putting his hand up. “Um, I have to go. Duty calls. I would love to talk more, but I think I’m going to be pretty knee-deep in cleaning for the next few hours, and then afterwards, I have to head to bed myself. But listen, Sandy… I… I would love to have another round of, you know, coffee. Especially since you liked it so much. There is nowhere else in the village that you can get it, so you’re going to have to put up with me if you want another cup.”

Sandy smiled. “Sure, I would love that, David.”

David got up and gave a nod-type bow before walking towards the back. He then shook his finger in the air and turned around and strode back to where Sandy was sitting.

“I just thought,” he said, with a half smile. “That perhaps, while I’m busy with all of this, you probably would like to go find Thomas. He lives at the very end of Forest Drive. You take a left from out there, then walk two blocks, and you’ll see the start of it on your right.”

Sandy nodded. “Thank you,” she said.

David smiled, then remembered he had to be somewhere, and did his half bow, half nod before turning around again. Sandy watched him walk to the back, taking care to step over the pile of intoxicated sleeping bodies.

She couldn’t help but smile before shaking her head. It had been years since her husband had passed, and in all that time, no one had so much as flirted with her. Yet here she was—Tobias making subtle overtures before he left, and now David dropping hints the moment she arrived.

She shook her head. Maybe it was her imagination. All this fresh air from walking and then maybe the release of stress after all these years finally falling off her shoulders has made her more aware of comments than she had been before. Either way, she didn’t have time to think about it too much.

She had to go and find Keira’s father.