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➤ Content Warnings:
-abandonment
-animal cruelty
-emotional distress
-tension

♫ Song of the Chapter:
"Silver Soul" by Beach House

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Chapter 23

"Weird to be in here after the forest," Daniel muttered, his hands grazing the shelves as he moved down the aisle, slower than usual.

Sean stood beside me, his gaze sweeping over the rows of snacks and half-stocked shelves. "Yeah, it's too... normal," he said, his voice low, almost distracted.

I shifted my weight against a rack of faded postcards, their worn edges reminding me of the ones my dad used to send.

My arms crossed as I watched Daniel pick up a pack of gummy worms and turn it over like he was reading something important. "Normal's worse," I said flatly, keeping my voice quiet. "Makes you forget to look over your shoulder."

Sean's jaw tightened for a moment, his hand adjusting the strap of his backpack. "Yeah," he muttered, like the words hit closer than they should.

Daniel placed the gummy worms back on the shelf, turning to us with a slight frown. "You think they have ghost stories here?" he asked, his voice lighter, though the tension in his shoulders didn't match. "Every place has ghost stories, right?"

Sean snorted softly, glancing at Daniel with a faint smirk. "What's with you and ghost stories?" he asked, ruffling Daniel's hair as he passed him. "You think the cashier's got skeletons in the stockroom?"

Daniel's eyes flicked toward the counter at the front of the store, where an older woman stood flipping through a magazine. Her graying hair was flowing over her shoulders neatly. She wasn't exactly shady, but her gaze kept darting toward us like she was trying to decide if we belonged here.

"Not skeletons," I said, tilting my head, studying her. "But she's watching us. A little too closely, don't you think?"

It was the kind of feeling that lingered at the back of my mind—like someone was always there, unnoticed but present. It made the air feel heavier, like we were never fully alone.

Daniel stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You think she knows something?"

Sean shook his head, grabbing a bottle of water from the shelf. "Nah. She probably just thinks we're about to shoplift." His tone was light, but his grip on the bottle was tighter than it needed to be.

The woman at the counter didn't look up, but her fingers tapped slowly against the magazine's pages, a quiet rhythm that seemed off. It wasn't much, but it made the air feel heavier.

Sean's gaze drifted to the counter, his eyes narrowing in that way he always did when something piqued his interest.

I opened my mouth to ask what he was looking at, but before I could get the words out, his hand shot out, gripping my wrist with a surprising urgency.

"Uh, Sean?" I asked, stumbling slightly. "Kidnapping me in broad daylight? Bold move."

"Just..come on," he muttered, not stopping.

We reached the counter, and he let go of my wrist, crouching down in front of a yellow basket tucked in the corner. "Look at this."

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms as I leaned over to peer inside. "Oh, wow, a basket. Thrilling discovery. Maybe next we'll—"