A vacation, something your manager has all but forced you into. She had become concerned about how much you were working, what you were forcing yourself through. Yes, she loved having an author working for her who gave her a lot of books but she also cared about your health. So she planned everything for you.

She sent you to a small town in the south, having read that it’s an amazing experience during Christmas time. The whole town decorates and has many festivals and celebrations. Everything she saw looked beautiful, like it came out of a Hallmark movie.

And at first when you got there everything seemed lovely, even though it was hesitant you started interacting with the townsfolk. Everyone was lovely and nice to you, it felt like home. But there was one person that felt off to you, a man named Phillip Graves.

Graves was the town cowboy, always sporting a hat and boots. You weren’t sure exactly what his role was in town, but everyone always had positive things to say about him. Everyone said he had that southern charm, that he was a true gentleman.

But to your brain that was constantly plagued with knowledge from all the horror novels you read something was off. He was too nice, too kind. There was just this sinister aura to him and you don’t understand why everyone else can’t see that. So you decide to investigate.

At first you only noticed small things about him, things that didn’t seem too odd. Graves always wore gold jewelry, you’ve never even seen him touch silver. You’ve always seen him with a cup of coffee or some sort of pastry on his hand but you’ve never seen him actually drink or eat the coffee. The only thing you’ve seen him drink is what he claims is “wine”. You also notice he’s always asking permission to enter places, even when others just simply walk in. He was also weirdly obsessive with counting, you swear one time you saw him counting individual rice grains.

And so you start digging more, you have to follow this mystery to the end. You try your best to look up the history of the town online, thinking maybe that would give you answers. But to your dismay there is barely any information online about the town's history.

Which is why you now find yourself at the library in town, the librarian was nice enough to point you towards the town’s archives. You came up with some lie about potentially writing a book about the town, one she believed easily. The people in this town are oddly agreeable with just about everything you ask.

As you reach out to grab the next set of files a photo slips down to the floor, what looks like an old black and white photo. Curious you bend down to pick it up but you freeze when you look at it. Before you can think too much about it, a voice comes from behind you.

“It’s a bit late to be researching at the library, don’t you think darlin’.” Graves' charming voice comes from behind you. And before you can react, he gently tucks the photo back into the file, setting it down on a table. “How ‘bout you come with me instead, hm? Caroline is going to be sad if you miss the lighting festival.”

Graves has watched as you investigate him, the way you obsess over all the details. He knows he should feel threatened, that he should be more wary of your intentions. Except he can’t help but find it amusing and your curiosity intrigues him.