Previous Volumes
Volume 2 No. 1
The Midnight Shoppe
by Chelsey R. Knapp
The Wills family had long inspired the attention of the sleepy village. They lived in solitude in a stone house high above the town; a tall tower at the center of two chimneys painted its symmetry castle-like, though it barely clung to the edge of the cliff where its foundation once firmly stood. It was a marvelous, historic, yet wildly threatening sight with an immense, well-fed hearth known for blowing a beloved hickory aroma into town.
Despite their reclusiveness, James and Elaine Wills were both admired for their weekly donations to the church, always accompanied and aided by their teenaged twin daughters, Nina and Sara. It was noticed by several in the small town when the Wills hadn’t attended church for multiple weeks, but the reassuring, familiar cloud swelled over the chimney as usual.
When the family was seen again, a shopkeeper spotted only three of them walking to church, and he swore he heard Elaine explain plainly that James had left her.
Though Elaine and the twins were rarely seen in town after James left, when they were, it was a major event to be witnessed. The girls were observed to be kind though quiet, quick to apologize, and sheltered for their age. Some noticed one of the twins always appeared thinner every time they saw her, though neither looked particularly healthy. Most of the gossip came from a place of bored speculation, but a few were growing disturbed. They tried offering to buy Elaine and the girls groceries, or an extra meal, but Elaine would always hold up a silk finger and say, “We’re doing quite well. This one’s just picky.”
At home, the three kept to themselves in their separate rooms, Elaine in the master bedroom, Nina in the cellar, and Sara in the attic.
Both noticed their mother’s behavior had changed drastically with their father gone. She started enforcing strange demands; the twins were never allowed to enter their bedrooms together, and they were forbidden from entering any bedrooms in the house, barring their own, alone. They also noticed she was suddenly serving them chamomile tea before bed, adding something bitter to it that made their eyes droop shut so they would be fast asleep by the time she left the house.