The events of the night of the Halloween festival left the town spooked. Polly thought that with the pumpkin monster dead that everyone would at least be at ease but it looked like the town was in a state of worry. As she walked through the park to meet Dolly, she heard whispers, although, unlike previous times, not all of them revolved around her. Instead there were talks of the possibility of ore creatures roaming out there. Polly had to wonder this herself. Could it be true? Could there have been more creatures than just one?

  She didn’t know for sure, but the possibility more intrigued her than scared her. If there were more of them out there, where did they come from? Was there anything else they wanted other than eating people apart? There had to be. Not every monster was evil. She knew this because she wasn’t. She also wouldn’t rule out the possibility that they could talk. It was like Henry said, no one believed monsters like that exactly existed until that night, so what’s to stop one from actually being able to talk? If she ran into another, maybe she could get it to do so.

  “Thinking about the monster?” Dolly’s voice took Polly out of her thoughts. She had found her friend and hadn’t even noticed. The artist was sitting on a bench. She held her sketchpad, but she wasn’t sketching. She was just staring off in front of her.

  “Yeah,” Polly said, taking a seat next to Dolly. She was concerned for her friend due to the way she was acting at the moment. Dolly didn’t really speak all that much to most people, but she didn’t just stare off like that. That night had to have spooked her. “Are you okay?”

  It took a few moments for Dolly to do anything in response. When she did, she turned to Polly and said, “Yeah, I’m just… a little conflicted.”

  “I see,” Polly said, looking down at the ground. “You’re the same as me.”

  “I thought that was obvious when we met,” Dolly chuckled. It seemed she tired to make a good. When Polly got that, she chuckled herself.

  “I know,” Polly said. “I mean that you can’t get the that night out of your head. It’s just… so unbelievable, you know? Between what you can do with your art and that monster. The world is truly full of unexpected things.”

  Dolly leaned back, her eyes going to her sketchpad. “I learned that at a very early age. These things are to be unexpected I suppose… but not for us.”

  Polly looked at Dolly again. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we’re not like everyone else, Polly,” Dolly said. “We’re different, which isn’t bad by any means. In fact… it’s good. It allows us to see certain parts of the world, of life, for what they truly are.”

  “I’m not sure I ever thought of it like that,” Polly said, holding a hand up to the mask that she wore.

  Dolly put a comforting hand Polly’s shoulder. “I know that can be hard to take in, but trust me… that part is not as bad as it seems. It’s good we can see that part of life for what it is. We know what needs to be dealt with.”

  “Dealt with?” Polly asked.

  “That’s what we promised each other we’d do right?” Dolly responded. “We promised we’ve make things better for everyone. Part of that is dealing with issues like that. And I promise Polly, we will take care of them and make Rothly the place it can truly be.”

  After hearing that, Polly nodded her head, happy to hear that even after the monster incident Dolly was still willing to help her in making the town better. It showed that there would be a pretty hard road ahead, but they would be able to do it as long as they didn’t give up. Something Polly wasn’t planning on doing in the first place.

  “I made you something,” Dolly said. She showed Polly a drawing she did of her fighting the pumpkin creature. The artist ripped it out and handed it to her friend. She then hugged her. “Remember, even when the people of his town think people like us do harm we still have each other. I’ll always be here with you, Polly.”

  Polly hugged her friend back. “Same to you, Dolly. That’s not going to change.”

  “What needs to change is Rothly,” Dolly said. “And we’re not going to make that happen by just sitting here all day ,” She chuckled before getting up. “I think I’m going to need you to show me somewhere.”

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  “Where?” Polly asked, getting up as well.

  “…Is the library anywhere around here?” Dolly asked her. “The thing the best way to move the town into the future is by going back into the past.”

  “I think exactly where it is,” Polly said, happy that Dolly was willing to go to a new place.

  ——

  Polly entered the library with Dolly and looked around. She was set on finding someone. “Bina? Are you here?”

  The woman in question, Bina, the librarian, came into view and gave a small smile. “Ah Polly,” she clapped her hands together. “It’s been a bit since you’ve been here. What can I help you with today?”

  “Well first thing, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine,” Polly said, turning her head to the artist next to her. “Dolly.”

  Dolly observed the red-haired woman in front of her. She tilted her head, her eyes not leaving the librarian.

  Bina noticed this. Polly could tell she probably felt a little awkward. She went to break the silence before Dolly spoke up.

  “Nice ponytail,” Dolly commented.

  “Oh? Thanks a lot,” Bina replied with a chuckle and smile. “It’s very nice to meet you, Dolly. I’ve actually heard about you from Henry.”

  “Henry told you about her?” Polly asked.

  “He tells me basically everything,” Bina crossed her arms, chuckling again. “I am his girlfriend after all.”

  “We saw Henry at the Halloween party right?” Dolly asked Polly. “The cop?”

  Polly nodded her head in response.

  “I don’t remember seeing you there,” Dolly said to Bina. “Were you here?”

  “Oh no, I never miss the Halloween festival,” Bina replied with a slight chuckle. “Henry told me to get somewhere safe when people were screaming and running. I fortunately never saw the monster or the bodily remains of the two men that were killed.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t,” Polly replied. “It was a horrible thing to see.”

  “I can imagine,” Bina said. “Those poor guys.”

  Dolly was silent. Polly looked at her after noticing this. It seemed like her friend was thinking about something. “Dolly? Are you okay?”

  “Oh yeah,” Dolly quickly told her when she got out of her thought. “Just thinking about the kind of book we’ll find here.”

  “Well that’s what I’m here for,” Bina smiled, clapping her hands again. “What kind of books are you looking?”

  “We’re looking for some on the history of the town,” Polly said.

  “Ooh, people other than me interested in the history of our beloved town? It’s about time,” Bina replied. She turned and began walking. “Follow me.”

  Polly walked beside Dolly as they followed after Bina. The artist looked at her.

  “So you’re friends with the librarian too, huh?” Dolly asked.

  “Yeah,” Polly replied with a nod. “Isn’t she nice?”

  “I’d say so,” Dolly replied, putting her hands behind her back as she looked around. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in a library that wasn’t my own.”

  “You have a library?” Polly asked.

  “Of course,” Dolly smiled. “Mansion, remember?”

  “Right right,” Polly chuckled in response.

  Bina led them to the history section. Her eyes immediately going to where the books for Rothly were. She looked at the other two women. “Will you guys be taking the book or books you want or staying here to read them?”

  “We wanted to take a couple,” Polly said. “But we were also playing on staying here at least for a bit if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t,” Bina replied with a small laugh. “Everyone’s welcome to wry in my library for as long as they want. Just remember to be quiet so others can read and do what they need to do.”

  “Trust me, we don’t plan on bothering anyone who’s here or might show up,” Dolly said.

  “Alright then,” Bina grinned. “Let’s get you these books.”

  ——

  After receiving the books they wanted from Bina, Polly and Dolly were sitting next to each other as each read a book. Reading the book she had now, the former couldn’t believe she hadn’t decided to look into the history of the town.

  The idea of learning about how the town got its start was a very enjoyable one and that was a part she was especially looking forward to. She knew there would be so much to discover about the town she lived in all her life.

  “Crazy to think that this town was founded in 1883, huh?” Dolly asked. “That’s not really that long if you think about it.”

  “I agree,” Polly said. “Really makes you think what kinds of things happened to give the town the reputation it has.”

  “The murders and disappearances really don’t help,” Dolly replied, looking back down at her book.

  “I had a feeling we would get to something like that,” Polly said, leaning to look at Dolly’s book as well. The section the artist had been on was about murders and disappearances that occurred in the 1930’s.

  “The ’30s were a crazy time,” Dolly said.

  “It truly was,” Bina said as she took a seat across from them. “Hope you don’t mind me joining you two. I finished the work I needed to do, there’s really no one else here today, and this is a chance for me to talk about the history of the town with people who actually want to learn about it.

  “We don’t mind at all,” Polly assured her. “Right, Dolly?”

  The artist shrugged as she looked at Bina. “She can help us find the things we’re looking for.”

  “I certainly can,” Bina grinned. She then rubbed her chin in thought as she looked at the books she had gave them. “I can’t help but wonder what you two are hoping to accomplish.”

  “We feel learning more about the town will help us find a way to make it better,” Polly said. “So better will actually want to come here.”

  “I see,” Bina said, putting her hands together. “I’m even more happy to help if that’s the case then. If anyone can change this town for the better, it’s seriously you, Polly. Especially now that you have someone to help.”

  Polly looked at Dolly. Neither of the other women could tell, but she was smiling under her mask. As more time had passed and she spent more of it with the artist, she became more and more grateful for her friend and the fact that she had her by her side.

  “I’m guessing you’ve heard of the Grimm family, Bina?” Dolly asked.

  “Why yes,” Bina said with a smile. “They were one of the first families of the town. You could call them one of the founding families.”

  “Yeah,” Dolly nodded , not looking away from the book. “There were very influential on the town during the first couple of decades before they just… disappeared.”

  “Huh?” Polly asked, looking at the book again. “Does it say why?”

  ——

  After her visit to the library and departing with Dolly, Polly had entered her room with a couple of books.

  “Hey,” Filbert looked at her from the couch. “What did you do today? Hang out with Dolly I bet.”

  Polly nodded. “We went to the library.”

  “Really? Should’ve guessed from the books,” Filbert asked.

  “Hey Filbert…” Polly asked. “What do you know about the family that disappeared? The Grimms?”