Page 3 of Ancient Obsession

“Parson’s Hollow.”

“The monster place?”

“That’s right. Paranormal Hollow.”

“Are the stories true?”

“Which ones?”

“I dunno. All of them, I guess.”

Oliver stopped and assessed Robin’s open and interested expression. So many stories had been circling the group chats—and now TikTok algorithms—some true and others even crazier than what had actually happened.

“Well, I’ve seen some insane stuff, but I don’t have time to go into any of it now.”

Robin took a step closer and lowered their voice. “Werewolves?”

The memory of watching Jugs thrash as his limbs cracked and lengthened made him shiver. “I saw some things I really can’t explain.”

“That place sounds crazy, but in a good way.”

“There’s good crazy?”

“For sure. I’m in boring, monster-free Thorndale. I live with my sister and her husband and their two kids.”

“You and your sister get along?”

“Yeah. She took me in after my parents kicked me out when I told them I was non-binary.”

“Yikes. That had to be really hard.”

Robin started walking again. “It wasn’t a surprise. I’ve known all my life I was different, no matter what they tried to do to convince me otherwise.”

“Conversion camp?”

“Yeah, one time. I got kicked out for getting the kids in my cabin turnt.”

“Turnt?”

“Sorry, forgot how old you are.”

“Unnecessarily rude.”

“Turnt means drunk.”

Oliver nodded. “I knew that.”

“Uh huh.” Robin smirked, but something darker moved across their expression. “Anyway, that’s where I’m at. My sister’s great, and her husband is pretty chill. He works road construction out toward Pittsburgh, so he spends some nights away from home. I help with my nieces and household chores instead of paying rent.”

“That’s a good arrangement. I’m glad you’ve got some family support.”

“Me, too.” Robin adjusted the backpack. “How about you?”

“I live with my fiancé, Dave.”

“I thought you might be gay.”

Oliver frowned. “What? Why?”