Chapter 1
“Paz,” my cousin, Gideon, called. “We’re already here.”
I snapped and blinked out of my thoughts as I stared at him. He already had his luggage, and mine was still sprawled on the aisle. Not to be careless, but this seat’s not exactly as spacious as I expected it to be. Besides, only a few people were present in this bus, and they didn’t budge, so neither did I.
I got mine and got off the bus. When it sped off, an old shack greeted me. It looked old and petty, with the word Shack’s “s” fallen. Not minding those, I diverted my attention to the breeze welcoming me ruefully.
It was nothing compared to California. I could actually pay to stay outside and feel the breeze all day.
Gideon was beside me, taking deep breaths. “And... That’s the shack, Paz.”
I glanced at him and at the shack. “Your shack? Gid, for a guy like you, I expected something—more grand.” He was one of the nerds back at school, but when we were alone, he would always draw architectures and out-of-this-world creatures.
I didn’t expect his family’s shack to be like that. I expected that since he’s gifted with such talents, he could’ve designed their home and business turf himself. But of course, I was wrong.
“I’m sorry to lift your hopes up,” he murmured under his breath. “I should’ve warned you.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” I sincerely smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Besides, have I warned you about the bullies back in California? No. We’re fair and square this way, I guess.”
“Well...”
I placed my hand from his shoulder to his mouth. “Shh,” I said, for I have known that he had a hard time back in California.
Gideon moved with my family three years ago. The education here in his hometown—Reverse Falls—didn’t meet his expectations. He was disappointed with the teahcers, programs and complained that everything was too easy.
I could’ve liked the school here.
But no. Gid was always up to some challenge, no matter how difficult. After hearing this, my parents volunteered to give him a scolarship. He agreed. He stayed at home and we became best buds.
I let him explore California for years and years, but I have never, ever heard a drop of detail about Reverse Falls. Well, with the exception of its name, obviously.
“Just... Bear with this town, okay, Paz?” Gid said, grabbing my hand, dragging me along with him to what was awaiting.
***
Cue the confetti.
Literally.
We entered and it was suspiciously dark inside. Lights that were able to pass some translucent curtains served as light, and since I have keen eyesight, I have caught some figures moving and made a guess.
And to confirm it, somebody suddenly whispered in my ear: “Boo.”
I yelped, the lights flickered on and everyone cheered for Gideon. Nobody seemed to recognize me. My parents told me that we already visited this town when I was only a year old, and of course I can’t remember anything about that visit. And these people right here—they didn’t seem to recognize me, and I will blame puberty for that.
In front of us, a very large banner read: WELCOME BACK TO REVERSE FALLS, GIDEON!
“Man, you sure are happy to see him again,” I commented, not realizing my voice was too loud to make them stop. They all stared at me with questioning faces.
Gid stifled a snort. “Dad, I forgot to tell you that I’m bringing a friend—or rather, a relative.” He slightly pushed me so I could be nearer to the audience. “Paz, this is dad’s crew. That’s my father with the straw hat. Dad’s crew, and dad, this is Pacifica Southeast.”
Silence enveloped us, hugged us ’til it felt suffocating. Before I could even try to break the silence, noise arrived faster than I could blink. One sound actually came from... Someone texting.
“Gid, that doesn’t matter!” His dad said. I could remember him having the name “Bud”. Uncle Bud, then. “Friend or relative, we don’t care!”
“You don’t?” I asked.
“Of course we don’t. We care ‘bout the staff! More people to stay, more employees and workers cleanin’ this place up. He whistled and one of his employees, the dude with the question mark shirt, came to us both with brooms. “Soos here will take care of your bags while you two start cleanin’.”
***
Minutes later, Uncle Bud came back with signs.
“Dad,” Gid groaned.
“Don’t you complain, son!” he said. “You’ve been gone for years. You haven’t contacted—”
“I visit every summer—” Gid tried to protest.
“Just hang up these signs, will ’ya?” Uncle Bud then turned to me. “You stay here and say no to customers who ask for refunds. Remind them the motto of this shack.” With that, he grabbed some money, started counting them and exited the room.
I quirked an eyebrow at Gideon. “What does he mean by “motto of this shack”?”
“We put fun in no refunds. Yay,” he replied, unenthusiastic. “I can’t hang these signs all by myself! I’d be finished around midnight!”
That appeared to be a lie, of course, when you look at Gideon’s physique. For a seventeen-year-old, he’s 5’7”. He has broad shoulders, long legs and arms and he can be fit for the job. All of those aren’t made up. Girls have fallen for this man, but his ‘persona’ or whatever they call it make them... Fall out, I guess.
He’s quite responsible at some times. But now’s not one of those times. Today, I think he’s lazy. His shoulders are slumped and his face complained millions and millions of unconfirmed theories of this planet.
I rolled my eyes. Sigh. “Fine, I’ll help.”
I carried six signs while he had eight. Since there was only one hammer, I insisted that I’d help by giving him nails and drinks.
He unwillingly agreed.
After minutes of hanging the signs, he stopped. “Paz, would ’ya mind getting me some drinks? Pitt Colas, please. I sort of missed those.”
“Pitt colas?” I felt my forehead creasing due to obliviousness. “Don’t you have Pepsi, Coca-cola...?”
“We don’t. Just—pitt colas.”
I shrugged and went back to the Shack. It was filled with customers and Uncle Bud was arguing with a mother complaining about her child’s candy.
I sneaked to the vending machine and got what Gid asked. I was careful not to be spotted by anyone, and I plan to do that ’til the end of the day (except for Gid, of course).
When I came back to the forest, Gid was nowhere in sight.
“Gid?” I called out. A gust of wind passed by, and the Pitt Cola seemed a bit cooler in my hand. “Gid, I’m here. Don’t play hide and seek on me!”
“Pa–Pa–Pacifica!”
I turned around, to where I thought the stammering came from, but he wasn’t there. No one was.
I frowned. Surely enough, it was Gideon’s voice. I can recognize his in an instant.
“Pacifica, I’m here.”
My eyes focused on the humongous log in front of me. Going around it, I saw Gideon laying his back against the moldy log. I glanced at our surroundings first before sitting next to him, handing the Pitt Cola in the process.
He was saying something, but he kept on stammering that everything was incoherent. At first I was concerned because, hey, he was stammering. But I realized it wasn’t because of nervousness.
He was excited. His eyes were glistening while he flipped through the pages of an old book.
I went closer to him and peeked. It was filled with lots of notes; a journal, perhaps. It also contained lots of drawings. Of what? Guns. Guns and other kinds of weaponry. Gid stopped at a page and we silently read the entry.
It was about killing a person with a syringe. It contained lots of poisons, from potassium to... Whatever that one read. But what surprised me was that “air” was included.
“Air,” Gideon read, likewise interested. “Can make it look that the person had heart attack. Reasons...”
His hand kept on flipping through the pages and after a minute of doing so, he abruptly closed it. He didn’t look like he was breathing.
After a second though, he let out a deep breath.
I eyed the journal and made a nerdy remark, like, “That’s fun to read.”
“You bet!” He exclaimed. “I bet this belongs to a detective. Paz, this—this contains lots of input the TV didn’t insert because of laziness!”
“Uh...”
“It has psychology, ways to kill, weaponry... Everything...” His eyes were wide and wild. “I could do lots of investigating with this!”
“Where, exactly?”
“In this town!”
I scoffed. “Reverse Falls? This pretty much looks like the most peaceful town to me.”
He smirked at me. “Don’t be deceived by first looks, Pacifica Southeast.”
Before I could retort something with no sense, Uncle Bud was already calling us to work our butts inside the shack.
[Author's note: Am the same author on Wattpad. Will continue and probably revise some parts of this here. Sorry, and thank you to everyone who supported and will support this Reverse Falls fanfic! (httplj on Wattpad, same title of book)]
