Fair Haven [R]

[Ange Keating]

The next few days had gone by smoothly, all of their furniture officially transported into the house. Lukas would be starting school next week, Nathan his job. Needless to say, things were finally slipping into place, the unorthodox family making their little niche in the cozy town. It was a Friday afternoon and Elena had insisted they begin to explore, become conscious of where the pharmacy and the supermarket were, to check out the infamous ‘village’ and the tiny family-owned businesses it contained. He slid into the driver’s seat of the caravan (a rental until they bought a proper vehicle), pulling out of the elongated driveway and onto the road.

“We’re still going to the batting cages after, right? Like you promised?” Lukas whined, baseball cap situated on top of his curls. The Detroit Tigers, just like his old man. A corner of his lip tugged upwards at the title, still going through an adjustment period. He had a fucking kid. Officially. Or, as official as possible until they actually went through with the papers. It was insane.

“Do I flake on my promises, like ever?” Nathan quipped back playfully, nudging Elena.
Elena smirked, "Do you really want me to answer that?" she teased.
He waved his hand at her, shaking his head at the five year old through the rear view mirror. “Lies. All lies. Don’t believe her for a second.” Giggles sounded from the back seat in response.

The village was everything Nathan had expected it to be—quaint, reserved, wholesome. There was seldom any traffic to navigate through, managing to find a parking spot next to an antique jewelry shop. They all filed out into the frigid, Autumn air, Lukas jumping onto the sidewalk and taking off.

Nathan hovered back with Elena, watching the little kid shove his face up against glass windowpanes, gawking.

“Looks like you’ll have the house all to yourself next week. Oh what will you do?” He wiggled his brows playfully, shooting her a fleeting sidelong glance.
"Well I was thinking of painting our room hot pink, maybe some glitter," she answered jokingly, "Or you know, I could look into the local paper here, see if I can get something part time."
Nathan made a face, chuckling. “Yeah? That’d be good for you. You’re an excellent journalist, if I do say so myself. Don’t think there’s much of anything that goes behind your back unnoticed.”

He had been a long-term member of the AV club in high school, loyally following Elena around with a camera whenever there was a story to be told. Even though he hadn’t been a member of her entourage in awhile, he appreciated from the sidelines.

“Mom! Dad! There’s a magic shop! Let’s go insideeeee!”

[Victoria]

Linking her fingers through his, Elena laughed, “Well if Luke grows up to be anything like me when I was a teenager, that little talent will work in our favor,” she pointed out. She had gone through the party phase in college, but in high school there had been many times she had been caught sneaking out of the house after curfew, or even worse, sneaking back in. Sometimes it had been to see a boyfriend, but most of the time it had been to follow a story. Her parents just didn’t understand what went into being a top notch journalist. Without evidence, the story held little merit, and sometimes the only way to get said evidence was to sneak out.
Nathan laughed. "Without a doubt. Let's hope he makes smart decisions."
“I’m a journalist Nate,” she argued playfully, “The story doesn’t care about a curfew.” But before they could continue their playful argument they had caught up with Lukas.
“Can we go in?” he asked again, a whine slipping into his voice.
Elena smiled, “Okay, sure,” she answered and Lukas made a beeline for the door, pushing hard on the door to try and push it open. “Bud, you have to pull,” she pointed out. She had been trying to teach Lukas how to read, but unfortunately he had shown little interest. He was more interested in going to the park with Nate, or playing ball with Nate, or challenging Nate to a video game. She was thrilled though that Lukas loved Nathan like a father, that he had slipped so seamlessly into calling Nathan ‘Dad’. Reaching out, she pulled the door open and Lukas darted inside.

Walking around the small shop, she found a pair of those supposed x-ray glasses. Laughing to herself, she slipped them on and turned to look at Nathan, “If only these things actually worked,” she teased.
Nathan playfully fanned himself. "Stop being dirty; you're making me flustered."
Elena laughed, placing the glasses back on the shelf, “you’re a dork.”
“Mom! Can I get it!?” she heard from the other side of the shop, turning around to look at her son, she saw him standing next to a rabbit cage. Oh no.
Going over to her son, she glanced back at Nathan, “I don’t think it’s for sale Luke,” she tried to reason.
“Uh huh!” He argued, “The guy said I could buy it! Please?!”
He shot Elena a side glance, shrugging. "What do you say? Should we let him?"
Elena kneeled down in front of her son, “Luke a pet is a lot of work,” she explained, “And you have them for a long time. You can’t just ignore it, or forget about it.”
Lukas nodded, “I know! I’ll feed it every day, please mom?” he begged.
A rabbit would be better than the puppy he had previously been begging for, it was less work at least. Standing back up, she looked at Nate, “I don’t know how to take care of a rabbit,” she explained to him. She had never been huge on pets because of how much work they involved. Nathan had always been more keen on that sort of thing. She was the city girl, he was the suburbanite. “What do you think?” she asked, she wanted to say yes, Lukas clearly wanted it. But she was afraid this was just going to be another fleeting interest of his. “If he loses interest, it’s going to fall back on us, I don’t know the first thing about most animals. I could barely keep my fish alive in high school.”

[Ange Keating]

Animals had been another huge part of the Townsend clan. He’d owned a total of five dogs at one point, his mother a huge philanthropist for animal rights. So much so, she had managed to strong arm the entire family into a vegan diet. Nathan had been alright with it after witnessing her natural talent for making tofu taste as good as any steak, though moving away from home and not having the same ability sent him straight back to his omnivore ways.

Nathan snickered. “I have very clear recollection of that.” He used to pick on her all the time about it, and had pointed out countless times that she was the least capable person on earth when it came to animal maintenance. Looking at the cage, he lowered his face towards it before draping an arm across the little boy’s shoulder. “Fortunately for you, at least a half of your parents know what they’re doing in this arena.”

Lukas jumped up and down before snatching the cage up from the counter.

“Whoa! Gentle!” Nathan exclaimed, laughing. The rabbit pressed it’s body up against a corner of the cage, bewildered.

“Sorry, lil’ guy,” He made kissy faces before grinning toothily. “I’ll be gentle.”

They went to the counter before paying for the rabbit and exiting the shop. Lukas hadn’t stopped staring at the cage even after they had begun strolling down the street again, insisting that they name it Snowball. Nathan and Elena had offered up their stamps of approval.

“In the mood for some more exploring?” Nathan asked his companion, shuffling around an older couple.

"Sure," she answered, "Just as long as we don't come across a pet shop next."

“Why not?” Lukas whined. “Snowball could use a friend! He might get lonely!”

“That’s why you’re giving him all the company in the world—right, bud?” Nathan challenged playfully, the five year old speechless for only a few minutes before soon becoming transfixed with the rabbit again.

At the end of the street, he pointed towards a rusty gate that read: ‘Fair Haven’s Museum of Extreme Oddities.’ “Eh?” He walked over towards the entrance. “Sound fun?”

Elena glanced to Lukas first before looking back to Nathan, "Why not?" she shrugged. "Because we really should find more things to give Luke nightmares."

Nathan opened his mouth to speak but the boy interrupted him.

“Mommy, please! It sounds cool!”

He shrugged in response. “I doubt it’ll be scary. Probably some soft core, commercialized tall tales.”

Elena laughed, "You're corrupting him," she accused teasingly, "Let's go."

[Victoria]

Going into the old museum, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. She barely heard Nathan buying the tickets behind her as she stared at the news clippings on the walls. Each one telling of a legend around the town. “Looks like your theory of small town murder and mystery wasn’t so far off,” she laughed as Nathan stepped up next to her. She wasn’t one to buy into legends, in her experience, behind every legend was a grain of truth. Something that had gotten so blown out of proportion and wildly exaggerated that it could be compared to the whisper down the lane effect. You had to sift through the embellishment to find where the truth lay hidden beneath.

"Think this stuff is true?" He arched an eyebrow playfully.
Elena rolled her eyes, “There might be some truth,” she noted as she stepped over to the next article on the wall, “Like this one. Gruesome death in home just outside town limits. Accident or curse?.” She looked at the old picture next to it a little closer, “That looks like our new place,” she shook her head with a laugh.
Nathan laughed, squinting at the picture. "Kinda. But ours has a new patio. Remember?"
Elena shook her head, “Listen to yourself, new Nate, ours has a new patio. This article looks like it was written 100 years ago.” She moved on to the next one down the row, “Huh, another death, same property, about ten years after the last. Same curse bs in this one too. This town really believes in its curses,” she muttered. But what was the curse exactly? None of these articles were telling her, they just continued to blame a series of accidental deaths on a supposed curse. Electrocution, falling from the roof, drowning… all of them seemed like things that could happen. Nothing said curse to her the way the articles were pleading.
"Gotta get the tourists in somehow, right?"

“Mom what’s a curse?” Lukas asked, reappearing at her side.
Elena looked down at her son, “Curses aren’t real, they’re just scary stories like the ones Na… your dad tells you.”
“Cool!” running over to Nathan he looked up at him, “Do you know any stories about curses?” he asked excitedly.
Nathan sent her a teasing look, almost as if to quietly point out he had noticed her flub, before nodding at Lukas. "Plenty! I could tell you a few tonight if you're--" he reached to tickle him playfully "--brave."
Lukas’ eyes lit up, “I am!” he said, nodding his head furiously, “I promise!”

Rolling her eyes, Elena left her boys behind and headed into the next room. This time it was a different series of pictures and articles. Also, what appeared to be patient documents. Looking closer at the header of one, she read the title slowly, “Fair Haven Hospital for the Mentally Ill.” There were many different classifications of mental hospitals, those that cared for patients who couldn’t care for themselves. And then those that dealt with the insane and crazy. Looking through she found the history posted next to an old photograph, Fair Haven Hospital for the Mentally Ill opened its doors in fall of 1887. Originally designed for patients who suffered from varying mental illnesses, there was a mass influx of patients that first year. Conditions quickly became overcrowded and the staff grew weary as their numbers weakened. Once out of control, it proved to be near impossible to handle the over populated clinic. Testing was often, illegally performed on patients, as doctors tried to find new ways to improve health care within the walls.
This town sure as hell had some history to it, there was no denying that. As she continued to read through the article on the wall, she heard Nathan and Lukas enter the room behind her. Glancing over her shoulder at her small family she smiled before abandoning the poster for possibly something a little more upbeat.