Chapter One

Tremaine Boppel gets settled into her new home.

Chapter One

 

 

 

Tremaine Boppel was all packed by the time noon came around. All she needed to do was get her glue, the bottle of black and orange glitter, and then sneak out of her room.

Her parents were under the assumption that she was packing up the last of her clothes from the old, splintery dresser she was leaving behind. She didn’t bother to fold anything, too concerned with what she was about to do. She gathered up the craft supplies in a cotton grocery bag and went to her bedroom door. She looked down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Her mother, Josey, a short Italian woman who wore too much makeup, was standing at the kitchen counter. She shuffled through all of her take out menus. She looked as if she was debating on whether or not to take them with her or leave them for the next owner of the house. Her father, Danny, was a gangly man with curly hair and was sitting on the kitchen floor. He was using his laptop and phone at the same time. Most of the furniture in their house was either sold, left behind, or was sitting at the end of the driveway.

“Hey, guys,” Tremaine called out. Josey’s shoulders were shaking and her head was bowed. She was clutching one takeout menu in particular. Danny looked at his wife and then to Tremaine. “I still got a lot of things to look through and pack. Some things I might throw away.”

“Alright, well, we’re leaving this place in thirty minutes,” Danny said. Tremaine heard her mother give a small sniffle. He rolled his eyes and said, “You should be ready to go by then.”

“Oh, yeah, no, yeah, I will be,” Tremaine closed her door, and then slipped on her pea coat. She smirked, and went over to her only window. She opened it slowly, careful not to make too much noise. She adjusted the bag handle on her shoulder and climbed out of the window. She had done this many times before, but only to hang out with friends. Never would she think that she would be sneaking out to do this.

She went through her backyard, and scaled the chain link fence into an abandoned property. She worked her way through the overgrown, knee length grass and then faced the road. The home of her cousin, Robbi, was right across the street. She went over to the blue house and approached the back door. She picked up the small turtle statue in the garden and pulled out a key.

There was no one inside, except a one-eyed pug trapped behind a gate. She ignored it and went upstairs. The room that Robbi slept in was painted in pink and wreaked of cheap perfume. The walls were covered in magazine pictures. Her bed was left unmade and her computer was still logged on.

Tremaine went to Robbi’s closet first. She took the glue and put them all in her shoes, including her expensive boots. She took the black and orange mixed glitter and dumped a good amount in each shoe. She thought the colors were fitting for the occasion; she was moving out of state to Samhain Island, and their flags colors were the same as the glitter.

She went over to her bags and did the same. It was what Robbi deserved after what happened last semester. Tremaine smiled and then thought about her posters. She didn’t have time to draw on all of them, so she simply found the biggest poster she had of the pop idol, took a marker, and drew a hipster-esque beard on him.

 

�'     - -

 

The ferry to Samhain Island felt slow moving, or at least, that’s what Tremaine thought. It was much longer than the car trip down from Newark to the Maryland port. She sat in a table booth inside, her phone dead. Her father was across from her, looking over a map of the island. Her mother was pacing around by the table. There was barely anyone inside; only a half a dozen tourists were on.

“When we goin’ to get there?” Tremaine muttered as she pressed her forehead against the cold window. There was nothing but a white, winter sky and water outside.

“We should be approaching the island within the next few min-"

“What does Samhain mean anyway?” Tremaine interrupted. “Is that how you say it? Sah-win?”

“It’s like, Halloween, right?” Josey stopped pacing and put her hands on her hips. She looked down at Danny, “I’m right, right?”

“I was told the naming of Samhain was a mistake,” Danny said, “But it's Halloween-related �" yes.”

Tremaine frowned and slumped in her seat even more. She tried to shift her body into a comfortable position, but she found it impossible. She sighed, and put her head and arms down on the table.

Ten minutes later, her father was shaking her. Tremaine looked out to the ocean and saw the island. It was massive, and from where the boat was, she couldn’t see the ends of the landmass. There were only trees and large rocks along the shore.

“What the hell?” Tremaine sat up in her seat, “Where are the beaches?”

Josey turned around and removed her purple-framed sunglasses. She growled as she stared at the island as well. “Danny!” She walked to the booth, looking down at her sitting husband, “You said there were going to beaches. Clear, blue water and white sand. White sand!” She held out a hand to the island, “All I see are rocks.”

“What’s the rush? It’s the middle of winter. Besides, maybe the beach is on the other side of the island,” Danny pulled out the brochure from his laptop bag, “That’s what it said.”

“You should have looked at the beach before you set up the store and our place,” Tremaine added.

“Right,” Josey agreed.

“Okay, okay,” Danny stuffed the piece of paper back in his bag, “While I was transferring over ten thousand movies, and setting up twenty some shelving units for said movies, I was to scope out the vacation spots. In January.”

“Yes, you were!” Josey slapped the top of her bench, “Okay, so you got your video store running. But what about your wife? Happy life, happy wife.”

“What about your daughter?” Tremaine added.

Danny looked away, choosing not to answer. Tremaine slid out of the booth and started to gather her things. She stuffed the magazines and powerless phone inside of her duffel bag, as Josey did the same with her purse.

Tremaine looked back at her father. He met her eyes, “I’m sure they’re on the other side.”

“We’re just pushing your buttons,” Tremaine said.

“I figured,” Danny gave a short nod. “I just want you two to be comfortable here.”

“Well, I’ve been to this place before,” Tremaine mentioned. “Field trip, fifth grade. We went to that urban legend museum. Plus, Grandy is buried here.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” Danny smiled, “Well, besides that, I can tell you first hand that the island is more than conspiracy theories and forests. Trust me.”

Tremaine couldn’t think of a response, so she gave a small shrug. Tremaine stood with her bags, anxious to get off of the ferry. The tourists crowded around the windows, taking pictures of the foggy landscape and bare, twisted trees. The ferry traveled down a canal lined with arching trees. It stopped at a dock with a small parking lot and building that was so fragile looking it seemed as if it was about to fall apart.

“First stop; West Port,” a voice said over a fuzzy intercom. Danny led the way out of the boat, the rest of the family following. The Boppel’s were the only ones on the pier. Danny looked around the area and pointed to a black truck.

“That’s Omokah,” Danny said as he walked toward the vehicle.

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Josey hesitantly kept following his lead.

“The friend who sold me the building,” Danny said, “Nice guy. You’d like him.”

“I’d like it if we could just get to the damned building and sleep,” Josey snapped, adjusting her fake Louis Vuitton suitcase on her shoulder. Tremaine hung back, looking up at the trees. She saw a few turkey buzzards staring back.

A man stepped out of the driver’s side of the truck. Everything about the man’s presence was sophisticated, from his gray English-cut suit to his fade-haircut. He had dark skin and deep, firebrick-colored eyes. The name “Omokah Weiss” was on his golden name badge. Both men shook hands in a familiar way.

“Daniel, my man, I hope the trip on the ferry wasn’t too bad. I hate that dreaded thing.” He looked over at Josey, “Josephina! So nice to see you again.”

“Uh, yes, you too,” Josey said, finally recognizing his face from their settlement.

Omokah’s gaze fell on Tremaine, “And you must be the young boxer I’ve heard so much about. Tremaine, I believe?”

Tremaine perked up when he mentioned her sport. She nodded and shook his hand. Josey looked longingly to the truck. Danny and Omokah carried on a light conversation as Josey tossed her bags in the back of the pickup truck.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t bring my other car,” Omokah said, “This is not my main choice of travel. I thought it would be better to bring this one to transport your luggage.”

Tremaine turned to Omokah, “Can I sit in the back?”

“No, you may not,” Josey snapped. “It’s freezing out.”

“I have no qualms about it,” Omokah said.

Tremaine frowned and looked up at her father. Danny shrugged and said, “Let the girl do it. She hasn’t had much fun in the last month anyway with the move and saying goodbye to her friends.”

“Yes!” Tremaine jumped into the trunk’s bed and sat between two suitcases. The adults filled the front, and they traveled up Orange Mabel Road.

 

-       - -

 

The building that housed Video World was far from small. With a large commercial space and two separate apartments above, it was prime real estate. Danny looked up at the building with pride, and even the hard to impress Josey was stunned by its size. Tremaine looked at the tower-like apartment that was on the back left side of the building.

“Did you finish the interior of the store?” asked Omokah.

“Yeah,” Danny said, as he fumbled with the keys to the front, “Wait until you see the inside, Josey. I made it look like the old store.”

Josey gave a grunt and put her hand on her hip. Danny opened the door, and Josey and Tremaine went inside. He invited the real estate agent in as well.

The first floor was covered with a mix of tile and wood flooring, and the walls were a light pink. The lengthy counter was snug like a cubby and was below the second-floor loft, which was covered in tacky carpeting and boxes of DVDs. Tremaine and her mother exchanged unsure glances. Josey was frowning, but it disappeared as she turned around to face her husband. “It’s cute!”

“Cute?” Omokah whipped off his sunglasses, “It looks like the early nineties vomited in here. What did you do to my former listing?”

“It’s nostalgic,” Danny defended and looked over at Tremaine. “What do you think, hon?”

“It’s better than the one in Newark,” she pointed toward the front, “since we don’t have to have bulletproof glass and bars over the windows.”

“Very funny,” Danny said. He gave his family and Omokah a tour of the video store and showed them the computers that were behind the counters. The backs of the monitors were so large that they barely were able to sit on the counter. Tremaine wondered if this was what they considered modern technology on Samhain Island.

They walked two stories up to the deck, where the entrance to the apartment was. Tremaine looked up at the lifeless tower that was next to their apartment.

“Dad,” Tremaine pointed to the tower, “Is that ours as well?”

“Yes, and no,” Danny said.

“There’s a tenant in there. I formerly owned the property, flipped it, and rented it out,” Omokah explained. “I know the boy… I mean, man. He’s harmless, and doesn’t come out much.”

“Well, what’s he like?” Josey pressed, “I don’t want to live on the same property if I don’t know the guy.”

“I told you about this, Josey.”

“Not enough, you didn’t.”

“Can we just get through the apartment tour first?” Danny said in a frustrated tone, “You’ll like this too. Omokah had an interior decorator and everything come in.”

“You’re going to love it, Josephina,” Omokah said as Danny unlocked the door. The man looked down at his wristwatch and flinched slightly. “Oh, I have to go! Daniel, did I give you the master key? The one to the tower?”

“Uh,” Danny glanced over his shoulder, “Yeah, yeah, you did.”

“Alright,” Omokah started to walk down the porch stairway, “You have my number if you need anything!”

The Boppel’s entered the apartment. It was large and included two bedrooms and a loft area. The foyer, the dining room, and the living room all looked the same. The walls were a rusty orange color, with a dark wooden molding. On the first floor, there was no ceiling. It was just the roof, covered in wood and complete with rafters. Tremaine liked the haunting look of the house. She appreciated how there were candleholders in the wall, like an old castle.

Josey disappeared into the bathroom, and Tremaine heard the water running. She turned to her dad, who started to work on unboxing the remnants of the move. “The loft’s mine, right?”

He pointed to the spiral stairs, “All your’s… I hope you don’t change your mind and take the other bedroom. It was hell trying to get all your furniture up those twirled steps.”

Tremaine smiled and went to the loft.

“Uh, Tremaine?”

She paused, “Yeah, Dad?”

“Do you think your mother likes the setup?”

“Of course,” she lied. She brought her suitcase up to her loft area. It was painted a dull green, with a nice balcony and armchair in the corner. New furniture was laid out, and Tremaine used what strength she had remaining from the long trip to sort it out the way she wanted. She collapsed on the bare mattress, looking through the sliding glass doors of her balcony and at the forest.

She became bored with the bare, green walls. She took one of her boxes and started to unload it. She stocked her bookcase and started to tape her posters wherever she could. She stood on her bed to tape a poster above it, and then hooked some dream catchers onto the strings of her ceiling fan. She lay on the mattress again, plugging her phone charger into the wall. She waited a few minutes for her phone to start up. She went to her contacts tab and pulled up Vito’s number.

“Hello?” Vito said.

“It’s Tremaine.”

“Oh, hey, girl!” Vito said, “Are you on Halloween Island or whatever it’s called?”

“Samhain,” Tremaine said. “It’s just as boring as the last time I was here.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“There’s too much fog,” Tremaine frowned.

“I bet.”

“How has your life been so far without me?”

“You saw me yesterday!” Vito laughed. “But it’s been dreadful. Completely dreadful.”

“I’m going to miss our shopping trips,” she said, “And sitting next to you in English.”

“I’m going to miss you beating the hell out of Robbi.” They laughed together. Tremaine felt her eyes welling up with tears, and she took the phone away from her face. She rubbed at her eyes, smearing her penciled eyeliner. Vito called for her on the other end.

“I’m here,” Tremaine swallowed, “I mean, I’m on the phone. Obviously, I’m not there.” They talked for a few more minutes about meaningless things, until Tremaine started to get upset again. She parted the phone conversation and then cursed at herself for crying. She couldn’t think about Vito, or Newark, or anything related to her old life. She lived on Samhain Island now, and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t fight her way out like she had fought everything else.

I’m just supposed to walk into school on Monday, like a normal person, Tremaine thought. She went to her Internet app and typed the school name in a search engine. She gave a single laugh when she saw how small the school was, both physically, and the small list of faculty. They’re just a bunch of country bumpkins. I bet they believe in ghosts, too. Tremaine reached over the side of the bed and grabbed a random blanket. She curled up in it and scrolled through the school’s social media. She stumbled across a website listing an archive of urban legends. She laughed and threw her phone aside.

At least, Tremaine smiled, I’ll be a new person when I’m here.