Chapter Text
“Get away!
A breathless scream echoed through the night air as Dara stumbled through the eerie forest, her older sister nowhere to be found. One second they were sprinting side-by-side away from the monsters, and in the next, the night had swallowed them up.
“Don’t worry, Dara. We don’t want to hurt you.”
Within the blink of an eye, the silhouette of a man wearing a cowboy hat appeared a few feet away from her.
With a heaving chest, she halted. They had surrounded her. Teary-eyed she looked around for an escape, but there was none. Their silhouettes were drawing closer.
She fell to her knees as a sob tore from her throat, “Sisi, where are you?”
Tears blurred her vision. She had lost. The monsters drew closer.
“We’ll take good care of your sister for you,” a sweet voice cooed.
Sobbing, Dara looked up with a tiny speck of hope in her eyes, which immediately died as she stared at a faceless monster. Only a stretched smile visible. That was the last thing she saw as its claws swiftly moved to her shoulders and started ripping her to shreds.
With a gasp, Dara shot up from her warm bed. A shred of light shone through the closed curtains as her teary eyes began to focus. She looked around the room, searching for something to ground her. Sierra was no longer in the safety of the bed. She wiped the dampness from her cheeks and took a deep breath before getting up and opening the curtain, ultimately facing the reality that is their new home.
The chatter of birds accompanied Sierra as she made breakfast for the entire house. It felt like the least thing she could do after Kenny and Tian-Chen welcomed them with open arms.
The sisters had survived their first night. A small victory, Sierra thought, though she herself had barely slept, her body tense and her mind replaying the night’s horrible sounds.
She was grateful that Dara was a fast and deep sleeper, oblivious to the terrors that had kept Sierra wide-eyed most of the night — except for when she dozed off due to exhaustion. She had made herself comfortable in the kitchen before the sun came up, downing a cup of green tea.
As she yawned, Sierra’s thoughts were still haunted by the inhuman screeches, the scraping against the wall, and the chilling words Kenny and Boyd had used to describe the forest creatures.
What are they? What do they want? Why do they not harm animals?
The wooden stairs creaked, derailing her thoughts.
“Good morning. Up early?” Kenny’s soft voice entered the room.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, offering him a slight smile, “Morning. Yes, wasn’t able to sleep that much, but I’m used to it.”
Sierra looked down, the sizzling of the sunny-side up eggs filling the momentary quiet. “Scrambled or fried?”
His footsteps halted near the table that was topped with freshly brewed coffee and a big plate of warm scrambled eggs and toast.
“Oh… you don’t really have to—”
“I don’t mind. Distracts the thoughts… I already made coffee, if you’d like some. Would be sad to see it go to waste.”
Kenny moved next to her, opening the cupboard, as he grabbed himself a mug. “Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”
“View it as a thank-you for letting us stay here.”
After a moment, she turned and stared at him with a raised eyebrow, “So, fried or…”
“Yes, please,” he chuckled.
As she placed the fried eggs on Kenny’s plate, Sierra heard a door opening, followed by the creaking of the floorboards. Dara walked downstairs, rubbing her eyes.
“Morning, Sisi,” she mumbled, her voice still thick with sleep. “Did you sleep okay? Oh, hi Kenny!”
Sierra released an amused huff as Kenny awkwardly waved at the younger sister.
“Yeah, fine,” she replied, her voice a little too bright. “Just a bit restless.”
Dara raised an eyebrow at her sister’s lie before she turned to the man next to her. “Hey Kenny, do the showers here work?”
They all turned their heads as Tian-Chen’s soft voice suddenly filled the room, “Yes. Clean towels in the room.”
“Thank you, Mrs Liu!” Dara hurried upstairs again, giving Kenny’s mom a quick side-hug.
“You need help with breakfast?” Tian-Chen asked Sierra as she made her way to the kitchen.
Sierra smiled and shook her head, gesturing toward the table. “No, thank you. You can sit down and eat. I made coffee too.”
Tian-Chen smiled gratefully at her and said something in Cantonese, soft phrases that Sierra couldn’t follow. Kenny answered while grabbing another mug. His mom glanced at Sierra again, adding a few more words.
Kenny translated, “She said you’re very kindhearted, and you should sit back and eat with us. You’re the guest here.”
He gestured toward the table, where her tea mug stood.
Sierra smiled, her eyes lingering on Kenny for a second before glancing to Tian-Chen. “Better drink it before it gets any colder then.”
The muffled sound of the shower running could be heard as they started eating. Tian-Chen gave Sierra a genuine smile as she thanked her for helping Sara yesterday. Kenny explained that their family welcomed Sara and Nathan with open arms when they first arrived in town. Sara offered to help Tian-Chen with the work in the diner once she saw her struggling. Kenny added that since his mom always made breakfast for the entire town, it’s nice to see someone returning the favor.
Silence overtook the table as Tian-Chen walked to the kitchen counter with her dishes. Kenny set his mug down, tracing the rim with his thumb before looking up.
“Did you… earlier you said you were used to not sleeping a lot. I’m guessing that’s not monster-related?”
Sierra hesitated, her gaze flicking toward the windows, where the bright morning light seemed to mock the lingering fear of the night.
"Not really," she said, her voice dropping into a calm tone. "I don’t remember if I mentioned it during the chaos yesterday, but back home, I work as a 911 operator. You get used to the night shifts... and the life-or-death situations."
Kenny paused, a look of genuine surprise settling over his face. He nodded slowly, "Ah, that explains it. You seemed a hell of a lot more composed yesterday than most people do on their first day here."
He took a quick sip of his coffee. "Do you... I hope this isn't too much of me to ask, but do you think you could help Kristi out from time to time? She’s our only medical person here. Thankfully, we don’t need her most days, but with your background…"
“Sure,” Sierra cut in, offering a reassuring nod. “Yeah, I can do that. I can help.”
A soft smile graced Kenny’s features as his gaze moved from Sierra to his mother, who was quietly wiping down the counter before excusing herself and walking toward the diner. A comfortable silence settled over the kitchen, the sounds of chirping birds filtering through the window.
“I know this situation takes some getting used to," Kenny said quietly.
Sierra took a bite from her toast, her mind drifting back to the screeches of the night before. “I’m sure,” she mumbled. Silence filled the room again. She looked across at him, noticing the way he was staring intently at his coffee with a woeful look. “Something on your mind?”
He hesitated for a moment or two before sighing. “It’s just… new people rarely arrive here," Kenny said, his voice flat as he was fidgeting with the handle of his coffee mug. "But lately, it’s like… it’s like a dam broke, you know? The Matthews family and Jade arrived not even a week ago. And since then, we've lost people. Good people. Now you and your sister are stuck here, too.”
Sierra set her toast down, her eyebrows furrowing. “Hm. How long have you been here?”
“Almost a year now. Why?”
"Because keeping your guard up and playing deputy for almost a year straight sounds really exhausting," Sierra said softly, her tone entirely serious now. She properly looked at him, recognizing the sheer fatigue in his posture and the slight dark circles under his eyes.
"Look... I know you've lost people this week. And I know it feels like everything is just falling apart. But from experience, I can tell you that when a crisis pattern suddenly changes, it usually means the situation is reaching a tipping point."
Kenny paused, shifting his dark brown eyes from his coffee mug to her face. "A tipping point?"
"Yeah," Sierra nodded, leaning forward slightly. "A lack of change keeps you trapped. A dam breaking is fucking terrifying, but it also means that the water is finally moving again. If things in this place are suddenly shifting, maybe that means that the routine is breaking down… that the system is fracturing. And if it's fracturing, maybe we can actually find a way out of here this time."
Kenny stared at her for a moment longer, letting the thought sink in. The heavy defeat in his expression seemed to lift just a fraction. "I guess I never looked at it that way," he admitted, a faint smile touching his lips. "Usually, change around here just means that we need to dig more graves."
"I mean, the chances of that are likely," she agreed quietly. "But standing still won't save anyone either. Imagine if my colleagues and I stopped answering the phones just because the last call went bad. You just handle what's in front of you."
Kenny let out a short breath as a half-smile ghosted across his lips. “Makes sense.”
“Also,” Sierra raised her hands slightly. “More people means more hands to help. I’ll do my best in trying to keep you and the others above the ground.”
Kenny chuckled, the tight tension finally leaving his shoulders. “How nice of you. The same goes for you.”
After getting ready, Dara and Sierra were heading toward Colony House to check out the location before deciding on where to live. Sierra was wearing her sports jacket, some baggy jeans, and a small beige bag with a bottle of water in it, while Dara wore one of her knitted tops and a long skirt as they marched through the lightly wooded path.
“I still think that it’s shortsighted to divide the people here into groups when everyone should be working together,” Sierra stated.
“Yup, after hearing those things outside last night, I don’t really get it. For living situations it makes sense, but this whole Choosing Ceremony thing seems a bit much.”
Dara hurriedly stepped in front of Sierra to look at her, walking backwards. “By the way, did I miss anything this morning? You and Kenny seemed to get along pretty well,” she teased.
“If by ‘getting along’ you mean ‘having a regular ass conversation’ then yes, we were absolutely getting along. He said that things are changing, I told him that’s good. I just can’t believe people have been here for years and just… sat around. I really don’t want this to be my new normal.”
“I mean, I kinda get it. Everyone’s scared and doesn’t want to take a stroll in the weird forest where those things are. Nothing here seems to be making any sense,” Dara turned around, seeing the mansion getting closer. There seemed to be several holes dug into the ground outside.
“Exactly. Nothing makes sense, so let’s at least try to make some sense out of it. Kenny said a lot of people died within less than a week… he sort of trauma dumped on me.”
“Well, he’s the deputy, he doesn’t want to see more people in Town die. He seems very sweet though. He and Mrs. Lui have that in common.”
Dara’s expression faltered as she continued, “Mrs. Lui told me yesterday that her husband recently passed away. She showed me the shrine.”
“Oh… I didn’t know that,” Sierra replied, thinking back to her conversation with Kenny.
“She seems to really like me. I didn’t want to pry obviously, but I wonder how it happened… Do you think he was sleeping in our room?” Dara contemplated.
Sierra paused, “I doubt it. He couldn’t have died inside the room if it happened that recently. Unless he died of natural causes…”
“Whatever it was, they really didn’t deserve that. No one does.”
As they reached Colony House, a blonde woman with an authoritative presence was waiting for them on the porch. Her serious facade turned into a welcoming smile.
“You must be our new arrivals. Boyd informed me earlier. Welcome to Colony House, you can call me Donna.”
Sierra stopped in front of her, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you, Donna. My name’s Sierra and that’s my younger sister Dara.”
Donna clapped her hands together after the introductions. “Alright, girls, let’s get into our humble abode. I’m sure Boyd must’ve told you a little bit about this place or our differences yesterday.”
They enter the mansion and see an old, white staircase leading to the first floor. Several people walked past them and eyed them curiously.
“At Colony House everything that’s mine is yours, meaning we share our clothes, bedding, and food. We are a commune but first and foremost a family. Living under one roof in this situation makes you feel less lonely, and we also have a rotating system when it comes to household duties, so that you can get to know everyone.”
While leading them through the bed/living rooms and kitchen, Donna continued her info dump, “However, it’s important that we all look after each other here because one mistake can get everyone in danger. This is why we assign newcomers a proxy to help them adjust to their new circumstances.”
Sierra chimed in after her eyes wandered from an old piano to a young couple making out on the couch, “Um, exactly how many people live under one roof?”
“Should be around thirty people in here. I’ve been in this town for four years now and after Boyd found those talismans, I’ve been living here, and we’ve made this place our own.”
“Wow, four years? Does that mean you’ve been here the longest?” Dara asked in surprise.
“No, no. Victor has been here the longest. He’s a bit… it’s been tough on him. But this is why we stay together as one and have parties and anniversaries as well. Speaking of, here’s my favorite resident!”
A young woman with beautiful dark curls walked up to them, her smile bright. “Oh, we have newcomers? Hi, my name is Fatima, it’s very nice to meet you two.”
Before Sierra or Dara could get a word out, Fatima immediately embraced them before standing next to Donna.
“We’re going to celebrate Fatima’s one-year anniversary very soon.”
Fatima smiled brightly at Donna before turning toward the sisters, “As you can tell, we are big on celebrations, especially anniversaries. We celebrate our survival, and it brings us all even closer together, because every day could be your last day.”
Dara nodded with a friendly smile.
“C’mon everyone, let’s go upstairs and meet the others,” Donna said.
While climbing the stairs to the first floor, Sierra and Dara shared a look. Sierra felt like she was back in a classroom. It’s a lot to take in, but she could now understand the existence of the Colony House community a little bit more. Town favors individual living while still following certain communal rules, whereas people in the commune celebrate the present together without trying to live in fear.
Sierra wonders if long-term residents have been so accustomed to this lifestyle that they see no reason to risk their lives in figuring out how to get everyone out of here.
Opening the door to a room in the back, Fatima continues, “Sierra, Dara, this is my partner Ellis. He’s Boyd’s son and that over there is Julie. She recently moved in.”
“Hey, you must be the Matthews’ daughter, right? Nice to meet you both,” Sierra said, offering a small smile while everyone exchanged hellos.
“That’s me. Nice to meet you too.”
“Oh, Julie. Ellis and I wanted to show you the Brundles today. Do you two want to join us maybe? It’s a lake nearby.”
Dara’s eyes widened in excitement, “Yes! We’d love to!”
The group began planning their trip to the Brundles, the room filling with the kind of high-energy chatter that made Sierra’s head spin.
“Hey, Dara, you can go join them, I’d love to check out the town a bit more, okay? You guys have fun. Thank you for the tour, Donna. It was really nice to meet you all.”
She wandered downstairs toward the kitchen, where the smell of something sweet hit her. An older man with straight brown hair was now sitting at the kitchen table, eating something out of a can as his tired eyes found hers. His button-down shirt looked like it had been sitting in a closet for quite some time.
“Can you keep a secret?”
His voice was soft, yet his expression unreadable.
“Sure.”
“Donna said we’re not supposed to take these. They’ve been here for a long, long time. They’re special.”
“What are those? Can I get one too?” Sierra asked, making her voice sound similarly soft.
“Peaches. They came in a huge truck, but we don’t have many left. Things are changing… they’re in the pantry. You can have one.”
“Thank you. I like peaches too.”
Sierra went inside the pantry next to the table and looked at the full array of food. She took a small bag of almonds and one of the peach cans and put them into her bag. She hoped no one would mind.
“You look like one of my drawings,” he suddenly said, startling her for a second.
She walked back to the table, looking at him, really looking at him. He seemed broken in a way… or numb, or maybe even both.
“Oh… you draw a lot? What’s your name?”
“Victor. I like drawing. It’s good to draw them when you see them. So, even if you forget, you’ll always remember.”
Sierra’s eyebrows furrowed at that, but ultimately letting his puzzling words slide. “My sister likes drawing too, y’know. She wanted to go to college to study animation, but then we got stuck here, so…”
That made Victor look up from his can, eyes slightly widened. “You weren’t supposed to come here together. She shouldn’t be here. He told me—”
Sierra blinked. “Who told you that? What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, I have to go.”
Victor stood up, peach can in hand, rushing out of the room.
What the hell just happened?
Sierra didn't follow him. She just walked out of Colony House and kept moving down a random path, needing to get away from the suffocating energy of that house. It wasn’t even midday yet, and she already felt exhausted.
She stopped by the side of the path, looking back up at the building. The morning had been a non-stop blur with too many introductions, new information, and a lot of question marks popping up in her head. Breakfast with Kenny and Tian-Chen had given her a fleeting sense of normalcy, only for her to immediately get dragged through the chaotic reality of Colony House. And then Victor.
His frantic words echoed in her head. She shouldn't be here. Donna had mentioned he’d been in this place the longest, which made his sudden panic even worse. If the guy who had survived here since childhood looked at her like he saw a ghost, what the hell did he know that she didn't?
At this point, Sierra had the urge to write down all the bullshit that’s been happening so far, so that she could figure out what to do next. A checklist. A diary. Something to anchor her thoughts. She rubbed the back of her neck, forcing herself to take a slow, steadying breath. Mulling over cryptic sentences from a most likely traumatized grown man wasn't going to get her anywhere. She needed to do something useful, something practical, just to keep her hands busy.
Fixing her posture, she continued down the path until a white building came into view, an EMS truck parked out front. As she entered the building, she could hear someone rummaging.
“Hello? It’s me, Sierra.”
The rummaging sounds stopped and the woman from yesterday appeared. She looked young, but her eyes and posture carried that same overworked look Sierra had noticed in Kenny, although she still seemed more positive in a way.
“Ah, hi Sierra. My name is Kristi. You helped Sara yesterday, right? Sorry that I couldn’t properly introduce myself.”
“No worries at all. I think we both had more pressing issues to deal with.”
Kristi let out a dry laugh, fiddling with an unrolled gauze in her hand.
“True enough,” Kristi admitted. She walked to what seems to be a medical cabinet.
“I heard you and your sister ended up with the Lius. Mrs. Lui is the sweetest… and Kenny’s a good guy. Probably the best one we’ve got here. He’ll make sure his mom doesn't overfeed you, though I wouldn't bet on it.”
“To her surprise, I made some breakfast today since I was up early,” Sierra said, to which Kristi offered an appreciative smile.
“That’s sweet.”
Sierra moved from the balls of her feet to her tippy-toes before continuing, “So… how long have you been here?”
“Should be around six months now. I was travelling to Grand Rapids to meet up with my fiancée… which clearly didn’t work out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry about that. How long have y’all been together?”
A soft grin graced her features, “I’ve been with her for two years. Almost three.”
“That’s beautiful. I’m really sorry you got detoured. I was going to drop Dara off at college and now our parents are definitely worried…”
Kristi looked down, slowly rolling up gauze. "The worrying is the hardest part. Thinking about the people on the other side of the tree wondering where we went."
She cleared her throat, shaking off the heavy thought. "But hey, at least you’re staying with the Lius. It’s probably the closest thing to a normal home you’ll find in this place."
“It’s definitely better than the alternatives I've seen so far, but it’ll just be temporary. Kenny actually told me to stop by. He mentioned you’re basically running this whole place by yourself.”
“Ah, did he now?” Kristi toyed with the gauze and stared outside the window. “Well, Gina was the nurse here and recently passed away. So, yeah I’m doing this on my own right now, but I don’t really have the time to train people from scratch when actual accidents happen.”
“I’m not a doctor,” Sierra shoved her hands in her pocket as she continued, “But I worked as a 911 dispatcher before landing here. I’ve talked people through everything from panic attacks to childbirth over the phone. I mean, I’m not used to sewing giant wounds together, but I know my way around a first-aid kit and I can keep people calm when everyone’s freaking out. I figured that might be more useful here than just sitting in the Lius' living room staring at the walls.”
Kristi stopped what she was doing entirely, her eyes slightly widening as she looked at Sierra. “A dispatcher?” She let out a laugh that sounded more like relief than humor.
“And here I was worried I'd have to teach someone how not to faint at the sight of blood,” Kristi said, a genuine smile finally breaking through her tired expression. “If you’re serious, I’m not letting you leave this room. I need the help.”
“And help I can,” Sierra answered, a smile tugging at her mouth. “Oh, right. Do you maybe have an empty notebook of some sort that I could keep? I need to organize my thoughts and if I’m gonna help you in the clinic, I’ll definitely need to write some stuff down.”
Kristi tilted her head slightly, “I’m sure there has to be a notebook somewhere. Let me see.”
She put the now rolled-up gauze back into the medical cabinet and waved Sierra toward the back office. Together, they started rummaging through the drawers, hunting for a much-needed journal.
The sun was surprisingly warm against the water of the Brundles. For a few minutes, if you looked only at the ripples on the lake and ignored the endless wall of trees and bushes surrounding them, you could almost pretend you were at a normal summer camp.
Dara sat near the edge of the rocks, her long skirt bunched around her knees. She was skimming her fingers through the cool water, watching Ellis sketch in his notebook a few feet away while other residents of the Colony House were splashing around. Further up the bank, Fatima was sitting with Julie.
Fatima was deep in her story about her home in Iran and the protests. Julie was listening intently, her knees pulled to her chest.
Dara only caught snippets of the conversation, but she chose to give them space. She knew Julie was struggling with her parents' divorce and arriving here only added to her bad mood.
Seeing Fatima comfort her made her miss her mom’s warm embrace and her dad’s way of cracking a joke in the saddest moments. She looked down at the water, a quiet wave of gratitude hitting her because at least her parents were safe on the other side of the tree. They didn't have to experience this nightmare.
“Deep in thought?”
The voice of Ellis snapped her out of it as she glanced to the right.
“Yeah, just thinking of my parents…” Dara gave him a sheepish smile, trying to shake off the heavy mood. “What are you drawing?”
"Just trying to remember the outside world," Ellis said, tilting the notebook so she could see a rough sketch of a city skyline. He looked at her, his eyes bright and mischievous. "But hey, worrying too much is a Town habit. Up at Colony House, we do things differently."
Before Dara could ask what he meant, Ellis tossed his notebook onto a dry rock, grabbed her by the hands, and yanked her up.
"Whoa— Ellis, wait!" Dara laughed, her long skirt swirling around her ankles as he dragged her straight toward the edge of the rocks.
"No time to think, Dara. You need to start living!" Ellis shouted, and with a giant leap, he pulled her right into the water with him.
They hit the water with a massive splash. Dara surfaced a second later, gasping and wiping the wet curls from her face, but she was laughing hysterically. The cool water instantly washed away the heavy thoughts.
"You are crazy!" she yelled, splashing water at his laughing face.
Up on the bank, Fatima burst out laughing, clapping her hands. "Ellis! You didn't even let her take her pretty skirt off!" She turned to Julie, grabbing her hand. "Come on, Julie, before he comes back for us!"
Julie hesitated for a fraction of a second, but seeing Dara splashing Ellis and actually looking happy was contagious. A genuine smile broke across Julie's face. She kicked off her shoes, and together, she and Fatima sprinted down the bank, plunging into the water right next to them.
For the next hour or two, the horror of life in town completely vanished. Everyone was just splashing, laughing, and pushing each other into the water under the warm sun.