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Tania’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. Her energy seems to have shifted between leaving the house and now. “It’s eclectic. The people are...odd. Tight-knit. Superstitious. They guard each other’s secrets. The name comes from a cove hidden in the bay.” She gives me a conspiratorial look.

“I can’t tell if you like me or not,” I remark in response to her squinted gaze.

“I told you, I’m not used to guests,” Tania responds to my well-meaning jab. “Come on. We’ll browse.”

The woman finally turns to us. She as well, carries a dreadful air to her spirit. Her pale olive skin and wide eyes with sunny curls, didn’t quite match her sharp expression. Her smile fades with every passing second of silence.

“This is Marisa.” Tania introduces me before I can speak. “She’s staying with us and needs new clothes. Marisa, this is Chloe.”

“Marisa. Hi. I—” Chloe fumbles, then turns to a nearby rack, shoving hangers aside with a screech. She returns with a few blouses draped over her arm. “Looks like you’re already wearing some of our pieces. I’ll grab a few more.”

“Do you have anything…darker?” If I was being honest, the entire place screams collected, when I felt anything but.

“Oh. Yes. I can do that.” She disappears into the back and returns with a handful of darker shades of attire.

“These would look amazing on you. Want to try them on?” She hands me an armful of wool dresses for the cold weather. It doesn’t evade me that we were shopping hours after last night’s strange encounter, and then the creature in the forest. Did everyone else experience the same thing? Were we to keep an eye out for things that attack during the day?

Chloe leads me into a dressing room. Our eyes meet in the mirror, hers wide and curious, before she turns and slips out. Tania soon appears holding a dress draped in lace and beads, ivory underneath, black lacing on top, cut low in the back and high in the front. “It’s the season. Kieran gets invited to a lot of dinners. You’ll need a few things to wear.”

“Why?” I ask, taking the dress.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Marisa. Besides, it might do you some good.” She winks then vanishes behind the velvet curtain.

“This place is fucking weird,” I mutter.

The dresses as I try them on are lackluster in style. Some are too stiff, others too soft. I want something bolder. Darker. These borrowed dresses feel too…lost. If I was going to be reborn from lost memory, I want an entirely new look.

Finally, I slip into the one Tania picked. The fabric clings just right, highlighting long legs and lean lines. The neckline dips low, my collarbones bare. I turn, admiring the silhouette. A genuine smile breaks across my face. When I exit the dressing room, both women have disappeared. I shuffle quietly down the hall and find Tania and Chloe whispering behind a rack.

“This is so fucking weird,” Chloe hisses. Tania says something I can’t make out. I pause, wanting to give them privacy, while also wanting to hear what they were saying. Then she turns and spots me.

“You like it?” Tania’s eyes are alight with something akin to affection.

“Do you have anything else like the last dress?” I direct toward Chloe.

“No, but I know where we can find some. Go get changed. I’ll close up and take you.”

“You don’t have to—” I start.

“Nonsense. Here in Devil’s Bay, we take care of our own.” She says, waving me back to the dressing room.

TWENTY-FOUR

Chloe is kind, and it turns out, so is Tania. An hour into this outing, a sense of calm envelops me. I think of Daisy, she would have loved to have been here, if only she would be more present.

For lunch, we stop by a cafe to grab a bite to eat. We sit at a table in the corner, hidden by the dim lighting of the old Tiffany lamp dangling from the ceiling. A warm pot of tea and sticky honey sits between us, steam filtering through the air. It’s the only thing that feels colorful in this dreary town.

The cafe’s design is antiquated. Mismatched tables and chairs. Exposed brick walls cluttered with various images and missing persons posters.

“Maybe I found myself in the right place after all?” I say to Tania.

Tania glances at me over her teacup as she sips. “I think you could fit right in. But you shouldn’t, you belong elsewhere.”

Chloe remains quiet, fiddling with her thumbs. The three of us exchange no words for a few minutes, allowing questions to bubble to the surface in the hollow cauldron that is my mind. What if I was the criminal? What if I was running from something? Something that could very well be searching for me right now?

I clear my throat. “So I saw the sign for the Hallow’s Month celebration.”

Chloe scoffs.