Truth and Lies!

Sometimes, Jack felt like Fordamcie made absolutely no sense. 

Fordamcie was a very small town, about roughy 40 people, so everyone knew each other's names. Because of this, news spread like wildfire. It was good that way, since everyone knew what was happening to someone, but it was also not the best, since most of the people of Fordamcie believed everything they heard. So in a place like this, lies can be accepted as truth quiet easily. Jack was one of those types of people, if he trusted someone, he believe anything they would say. Though despite that, there was also some rules that everyone began to follow quickly.

Never go to the other side of the tracks. 

Don’t go downtown after dark. 

Don’t smile back at the smiling stranger. 

Don’t look directly at the lady in pink.

Always carry some salt on you.

Jack had grown up with these rules, yet he didn’t understand them. Who was the stranger and the lady? Why did he need salt on him? What was wrong with the other side of the tracks? Jack didn’t know, and for a long time he blindly followed them. That was until last Sunday, last Sunday he had broken a rule, which was going downtown after dark. He’d didn’t do it because he was trying to fight the system or anything, he was just curious about what would happen. The ginger just wanted to know why he couldn’t pass through an innocent part of town after dark. When he did, he found nothing suspicious, nothing supernatural or out of the ordinary. Besides the note he had seen on his family’s diner, bobby’s burger house. The note was a worn note, its papers stained in golden, and its edges seem to have worn down over the years. It had been lazily taped onto the window, as if someone was in a rush to put it there. When Jack took the paper off its tape and turned it around, it had a message;

Dear whoever is reading this,

If you find this, your not like the others. You have the curiosity, the bravery, maybe even the stupidity to not listen to what the world tells you is right or wrong, Your not like them at all. Your like me, a non-listener. People like me want to know the truth about this town, to uncover all the lies and secrets, we want change! Now, that I know there is someone like me, I really want to meet you! If you're reading this, please meet me on the other side of the train tracks, where the weird door is, okay?

From, your new friend.

P.s: I live outside of town, on the other side of the train tracks, so that's why I say we meet there!

When Jack went home, he tried to tell his parents about the note, who then told their neighbors, who told their neighbors, and there's as well. Quickly the story got twisted; in there version of the story, Jack had seen something so terrible downtown that he refused to tell anyone about it. This twisted story, this lie soon become fact; everyone, including his parents believed it quickly. For days he tried to tell them what happened, but all they did was pat him on the back and comfort him by telling him “he didn’t have to talk about it if he didn’t want to”. It frustrated Jack, who or what made the lie? Why? Was there something they were hiding? Did Jack see something he wasn’t supposed to see?

His conflicted emotions and questions made him forget about the letter until friday night. But when he did finally remember it, he realized this mysterious person may be the only person who didn’t believe the story the town told, if they even heard it. So friday, on a cold November night, jack got up late at night and went to the train tracks, and stood there for a second, doubting himself for a moment, before walking across to the other side. It felt so wrong, he had broken another one of the towns rules, yet it felt so right, afterall, he could finally begin to understand why Fordamcie was the way it was. As he began to walk, he could hear the dead grass crumbling beneath him. It comforted jack from his doubts and fears, at least a little bit. He quickly made his way to the door, and a part of him wanted to knock; just to see if someone would answer. He pulled his hand out to knock, though he quickly pulled it back and shoved it back into his red jacket. It was just a door sitting in the open, so who would answer it? The bitter cold didn’t encourage him either.

So he stood there for a few minutes, his body shaking a little due to the cold. If it weren’t for his flashlight, Jack’s breath would’ve been invisible to him. As the seconds ticked by, his worry and doubt increased. Had it just been some cheesy prank? Was Jack truly alone? Would anyone ever believe him? What it- Jack flinched due to a sharp poke into his back, it didn’t hurt; it just surprised jack. He let out a small yelp and he turned around, and he saw who he had been waiting for.

A girl about the same age as Jack stood there, her smile bright and eyes gleaming. Despite jack being tall and lanky for his age, she was about the same height has him, only off by a couple of inches. She had white hair that was tucked into her hoodie, and her eyes shined a brown glow. She had a hoodie lazily thrown on, along with some sweatpants and winter boots. Her wardrobe made Jack feel even colder than he already was. Her hands dawned black gloves, which were pressing against Jack’s back in order to get his attention.

The girl giggled in response of Jack’s sudden yelp, and she withdrew her hands back into her hoodie pockets, she happily said “ Did I scare you? I knew you were going to come eventually! So I decided I would make my introduction interesting! “ Jack said nothing, and stepped back nervously when the hoodie girl stepped forward, in response, she chuckled and said, “ What's wrong? You think I’m gonna bite you? Don’t worry I only bite people I dislike! “. Now, Jack finally decided to ask about the letter, though his voice tried to stop itself, so thus it came out more as a whisper “ So you’re the girl who wrote the note, right? “. The girl smiled once more, and said “ Who’d you expect?! Some weird biting hag? Ha- Yep! Your looking right at her! “. Jack sighed in relief and tried to say something, only to be cut off by the girl once more “ Your shaking, are you cold? You seem cold! Here, come with me to my- or our new base! “ and before Jack could react, he felt himself being pulled- or dragged by the girl into what looked like an old cottage. 

When the girl let go of jack, she bolted to a small portable stove and turned it on. Jack sat down across from her and hovered his hands over the fire, enjoying the heat as it slowly rose to his hands. The two sat there for a few moments, just getting a good look at the other, to try and memorize what each looked like. Then, the girl who dragged him all the way here noticed the door wide open, and she got up to close it. After she got up, Jack decided to break the silence when he said “So um- the names Jack, and who are you?“.

She closed the door, only saying “ Call me Saddie, and I guess I’m going to try to answer a lot of your questions today.”.