22. The Willows - The meeting

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After walking down the streets and meandering for a while, following the instructions which were given by the man, they found themselves standing in front of the doll store.

"The Maple's Doll Store." Emily read out loud and began to look for a burned down building. It wasn't long before it caught her eye. "There it is!" She said pointing her finger to what was left of the house after the fire.

Hannah and John turned to where she was pointing.

"C'mon. It's just a couple block away." John motioned for the girls to come.

"Hannah?" Emily stopped and turned back when she noticed that her best friend wasn't with them. " What happened? C'mon?"

"Emily, what will happen once we meet the Willows? What will we say to them? Or how will we start the conversation? It would be rude to be upfront though. What if it all goes wrong?"

"Don't worry, Hannah. We'll figure it out. Now, don't start preparing or rehearsing the conversations. It isn't a test or an interview. Relax. I'm here. Now c'mon!"

Hannah was a think-before-you-speak kind of girl. Even when she had to talk to someone in person or even on the phone, first, she would think in her head what she would say and then say it while on the other hand, her best friend, Emily was an on-the-spot, live-in-the-moment kind of girl. She agrees that one should think before they speak otherwise it would be awkward if they blurted out something embarrassing. Then people would think of them like a weirdo. But they should not think too much. The conversation should be like a flow - It shouldn't be like a test or a theory paper! Hannah always admired Emily's confidence and her ability to talk to even strangers with ease.

It was a short walk from the store when they reached Willow's house - or which used to be their house. The building had taken a lot of damage. It was covered with soot and ashes. The roof of the house was no more. The concrete walls were gone leaving behind only the bricks and the woods which were blackened and charred. One could see the burned furniture and all the stuff which lay there as an innocent victim. Hannah inhaled the air and coughed as the ashes drifting in the wind filled her lungs. The flora surrounding the house had also taken the damage. Everything was completely ruined. Nothing had escaped the blaze.

"So terrible. No one should ever suffer like this." Hannah's voice reflected sympathy towards the Willows as she thought what a horror it would have been for the whole family to watch all their savings, and all their memory go down in flames right in front of their eyes.

"Let's ask the neighbors. Maybe they know where we can find the Willows." Emily said looking around. " Let's split up."

The three of them trotted off to ask whoever they saw first.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Hannah asked a woman in a black dress, all dressed up as if she was going for a party. "Can you tell me where can I find the Willows?"

After hearing the name, she seemed like she was in a hurry. " I don't know." She was blunt and sounded rough and then Hannah saw her getting into her car and she drove off. Weird.

"Sir," Emily approached a guy who was sitting on the porch, reading the newspaper. "I'm looking for the Willows."

It took the guy no time to wrap up his paper and head inside his house after Emily inquired, leaving Emily all by herself. Well, that was strange.

John knocked on a newly painted door - twice - before it was opened up by a girl not older than 13 or 14. She half-opened the door and peered outside looking at a stranger whom she had never seen before in the area.

"Yes?" Her voice sounded sweet.

"Hi. Do you know anything about the Willows?"

"Who's there Lucy?" From what John heard, it sounded like it was her mother.

"Don't know." She said innocently. " There's a guy here asking about the Willows."

John then heard a sudden rattling sound and fast approaching footsteps and then a woman - maybe her mother - appeared in his sights and then she quickly slammed the door shut on John's face.

"That's rude you know!" John was offended. He waited for an apology or even an explanation but nothing. So, he thought to meet up with the girls instead of standing there making a fool of himself.

"This neighborhood is so weird!" John snapped.

"I know right?! Don't know why they are behaving like this!" Emily joined the club. Suddenly, her phone vibrated with a text. She furrowed her brow as she read the message.

"What's wrong Emily?" John asked.

"Nothing. It's from my mom. They say they need me right now."

"Everything's alright?" Hannah asked scooting towards Emily.

Emily shrugged and said, "I'll text you when I'll reach there and you guys inform me too if you find anything. Ok? "

"Sure. Be careful."

The three of them waved goodbye as they saw Emily going outside the town to get a cab.

"So, who will tell us where to go next?" Hannah looked around hoping to get some answers about the Willows.

"Psst!"

Hannah turned around by that sound. But saw no one.

"Psst!"

This time, John heard it too. " Who's there? Show yourself." John demanded.

"Psst! Here. Come."

They looked at each other. Unsure of what to do, they decided to find the source.

The voice led them near the burned house and they went behind it, where a blackened tree stood.

"Who are you?" John asked a manly figure that stood behind the tree. The man turned to face them wearing ragged and worn-out clothes.

"Doesn't matter. But I can tell you where you'll find what matters to you right now." The man's first impression came as a lunatic to them.

"What do you know?" Hannah asked him. It felt to her as if she was interrogating a suspect just like the cops of Emily's detective shows do.

"When the Willows lost their house, they lost everything. They had nowhere to go. Not even any relative. So, if you want to find them, try the Paramount hotel. They are staying there."

"How do you- well never mind." Hannah thought it would be hopeless to get an explanation as to how he knew so much as to why is he telling us that when everyone else was so opposite.

"And what's the deal with these people?" John asked the most awaited question to which they wanted an answer for.

"Oh. So many reasons. When the fire burned down their entire house, considering the extent and wrath of the flames, not even a single thing was harmed of their neighbors next door - not even the flowers planted against the fences which were the closest to the house. No one knows how that intense fire started though. Doesn't that sound weird to you? And then all these events - mysterious and unexplainable - which all led up to the Willows. There was always an eerie feeling whenever they were around. There are all sorts of rumors around here about them but taking in case what the people had experienced with the family, I don't think anyone would question the validity of it. In a way now, people are relieved now that the Willows are gone. They don't want to be involved in any matter relating to them. That's why they are all giving you a cold shoulder."

John was about to ask something when the stranger looked at his wrist and said, "Look at the time. I had to go." And then he trailed off.

"But he even wasn't wearing a watch!" John exclaimed with wide eyes and mouthed such a loony. "Anyway, c'mon sis. Let's go and meet the Willows now. So much tension is being built up. It's like I'm a part of a horror-thriller movie!!!"

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It was a posh hotel room with a view. Hannah and John were sitting in a cushioned armchair while Mr. and Mrs. Willow, both were sitting on the bed, and Alex- their daughter who was nearly John's age had blond locks which were hanging loose down her shoulders, was sitting in the study chair.

"But how did it happen? I mean do you know the source which caused such a disaster?" John asked the Willows.

"We don't know. It came on too suddenly. It was like a nightmare from which even though you try to get out from, you can't." Mr. Willow said. He was a strongly built man with a shaved beard, wearing a plain white shirt and his blue coat lying on the bed next to him.

"All I can remember is that," Mrs. Willow, a lady nearly the same age as that of her husband replied. She was wearing faded denim jeans and a floral top." I had gone to bed early that night having switched off all the lights and checked all the doors and windows and the gas. Suddenly, we were woken up by the constant phones and people screaming our names from outside screaming that we should get out. " Mrs. Willow shuddered as the scene of that night came to her. Mr. Willow wrapped his hands around her and rubbed her arms to comfort her.

"Did you notice anything strange?" Hannah turned to Alex. She didn't want Mrs. Willow to hurt more. She had clearly suffered enough mental pain.

"Nope. I had a test tomorrow so, I went to bed early that night. My mom came to wake me up. When we went downstairs, the curtains and the furniture were on fire. The room was filled with smoke. We ran outside as fast as we could."

"Did the firefighter told you about the cause?" John asked Mr. Willow.

Mr. Willow shook his head.

There was a short silence for a while.

"Did you guys know anything?" Alex broke the silence.

"I- mmm... - we - " John stammered and looked at Hannah. They were thinking about whether to tell them about their theory or not. Will they believe them or not.

Hannah nodded and John interpreted that they should. The family has a right to know.

"- We do. But we're not sure if you'll believe us or not."

"We will. Trust us. We have seen enough strange and weird happenings." Alex said.

"Ok so, let me start by asking you do you know anything about the emerald stone?" Hannah asked them as she described the cursed stone.

"Oh! Yes! Such a beautiful stone!" Too bad we lost it in the fire. It was one of my favorites. I was planning to make a locket out of it." Mrs. Willow expressed her admiration for the stone.

"If you value your life, then trust me, don't go anywhere near that stone. It IS the cause. I mean don't you think it's weird that only the stone was unharmed in a fire like that where everything burned to ashes?" John asked leaning in and then they told the Willows all about the stone. It's past and to prove that what they were saying was true, they backed it up by telling them how strange things began to happen when they brought the stone home - a sudden change in their uncle's health, their father's sprained ankle, death of their grandmother and John's best friend, the eerie woman, the man whose mouth was stitched with rods and the figure whose teeth dug deep into John's neck.

When they had finished, the family had their mouth open and the color of their face gone unable to swallow what the two kids sitting in front of them just said. There was an utter quietness for a while.

"Well, come to think of it, we also had strange things in our house and with our lives since we got that stone and-" Mr. Willow went in the flashback when he was interrupted by John.

"May I ask, where did you get that stone from?"

"Well, I got it on my birthday as a present but there was no one's name written on the box," Alex answered.

"Where is the stone now? Do you guys know?" Hannah asked.

"Nope. But I think it must be with the police. They were investigating the scene after the fire was doused off."

"Then we must get that stone," John said getting up.

"But what will you do if you get the stone?" Mr. Willow asked the young man.

"We don't know how will we destroy them but all we know is that there are three stones altogether which can't be destroyed alone. For now, we need to find the rest of the two stones."

"If we can help in any way, let us know." The family escorted the two outside.

Hannah pulled out her phone to tell Emily about their findings.

"Weird," Hannah murmured.

"What's wrong?"

"Full ring is going but Emily's not picking up the phone." Hannah tried two more times but still no response. She started to grow worried.

"Try calling her mom," John suggested.

Hannah scrolled her contact list and called Emily's mom. Few rings went after which the sweet voice of a lady came from the other side.

"Hello, Hannah. How are you dear?"

"I'm fine Mrs. Watkins, thank you. " Hannah replied nonchalantly. "Can I talk to Emily? She is not picking up her phone."

"I thought she was with you guys!"

"She told us that she got a text from home telling her to come fast."

There was silence for a while and Hannah could hear that Mrs. Watkins was asking everyone if they had texted her daughter but none said yes.

"Hannah, none of us texted her! Oh God, Emily! " She really started to get panicked and hyper vented.

"Mrs. Watkins, calm down. I'm sure she must be on her way. Don't worry. I'll check up on her. You relax." Hannah tried to sound as patient and calm as she could but she and John both knew that Emily could either be safe or she might be caught in something sinister. And at that moment, the second one was outweighing the first in a weird, gut-twisting way.

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