This Town Is Not All Right

Chapter 1

It had been ten minutes since they d passed the Driftwood Harbor, Population 203 sign, and ten minutes since anyone had said a word.

Out one window, the Atlantic Ocean stretched out like a big gray void as far as the eye could see. Out the other, a fog so thick, you could choke on it hung over a dense forest of scrabbly pine trees. A few miles back they d passed a tumbledown house with an old truck in the driveway, but they hadn t spotted any actual life since they left the interstate more than an hour ago. (Unless you counted the seagulls that circled overhead, and even they looked like the type that would purposely poop on your head.)

It was desolate and depressing, and Beacon could tell from the way his twin sister, Everleigh, glared out the window that she was regretting not flinging herself out of the car when she d had the chance.

I hear they have fantastic lobster, the twins dad said.

The tires whirring underneath the Ford Taurus came into focus. A breeze whistled through a cracked-open window, ruffling the fine brown hairs clinging to the top of their dad s head and sending his tie over his shoulder.

I love lobster, Beacon said, just to break the tense silence.

From the front seat, Everleigh snorted.

She was part of the reason they were moving from Los Angeles all the way to the tiny fishing village of Driftwood Harbor on the Eastern Seaboard. Their dad was hoping that the fresh air and change of scenery would help her. Nothing else had.

That s why Beacon tried to be optimistic about the move, even if he wasn t actually happy about it. He d had friends in LA. He had the skate park downtown, where he practiced his jumps until it got dark. He had his bedroom full of Tony Hawk posters and a spot under the floorboards where he hid private stuff from his nosy twin sister. But he just wanted his family to go back to normal. Or as close to normal as they would ever get, now. After. If this place helped, then none

M.K. Krys (as Michelle Krys) is the author of Hexed, Charmed, and Dead Girls Society. When she's not writing books, Michelle moonlights as a NICU nurse. She lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, with her family. You can visit her online at michellekrys.com and follow Michelle on Facebook and Twitter.