Bram's Hollow

The trees were tall and dark, waving against a hard wind. Tobias stood in a dyeing forest alone and frightened. He heard a distant howl then the sound of snapping twigs and the crushing of dead leaves under heavy feet. Tobias turned around to catch sight of the noises origin but found none. The forest was dimming and the steps drew closer. The fear had worked its way to Tobias’s legs and he started to run. The footsteps drew closer they were not keeping up, they were overtaking him.

Tobias’s foot caught an outgrown root and was sent to the forest floor. The steps drew closer and closer still, Tobias turned to see what was chasing him but saw nothing once again. The forest was now silent and cold. He slowly stood and peered into the darkness hoping to catch some clue as to what was out there. The forest still revealed nothing. Tobias turned back around and was greeted by a mass of articulated fur, large bloodshot eyes and massive, blood covered fangs.

Sunlight was reflecting off the moving van’s side mirror rebounding right into Tobias’s sleeping eye. He awoke suddenly out of breath. For a moment he forgot where he was or what was going on.

“You alright Toby?” Vivian asked her son.

Everything came back to Tobias in short order. He shook the cobwebs from his mind and remembered his dream of the dark forest briefly before it slipped away from his mind.

“Yea, I’m fine.” Tobias answered his mother as he stretched the weariness out of his arms and neck.

It was just after sunrise, the sky was full of the whitest fluffy clouds that Tobias had ever remembered seeing. They were on the other side of the cave now, in a large valley that seemed to be hidden behind the mountain range that encircled it. Trees and shrubbery lined the smooth cobblestone road that they were currently driving on. Tobias rolled down the passenger side window and took a deep breath of the country air. “How far away are we?” He asked.

“Oh, really close.” His mother answered. Indeed they were close, no more than a minute had passed when the van drove out of the long patch of forest and into the most picturesque town that Tobias could ever imagine. The houses, shops and farms ascended the lush green mountainside looking out at a large blue lake that stretched out for miles. Just above the town, on a jutted out precipice, was a small, beautiful castle built into the side of the mountain itself. Tobias’s first impression of Bram’s Hollow relieved him. After what his mother told him about the various creatures that inhabited the place, Tobias feared that it might look like one of those run down villages from the old black and white monster movies he would watch on Sunday mornings growing up. He couldn’t imagine anything sordid or evil happening in such a friendly and beautiful place.

A short wall made of large stones ran along the edge of the hollow leading up to an open gate made of thick wooden planks engraved with various animals and writings in a language Tobias had never seen before. Vivian drove through the gate without any hesitation and entered Bram’s Hollow. The streets were cobblestone threw out the town. At ground level, just off the shore of the lake, were several shops selling everything from clothing to furniture to groceries. Tobias even spotted a bakery that filled his nose with sweet smells of hot rolls and cinnamon. Just past what Tobias assumed was Main Street, the van turned up the twisted roads up the mountain, toward the residential portion of the hollow.

Vivian stopped the van in front of an old but well taken care of stone bricked house. It had a small yard encircled with pink and yellow rose bushes. “Is this our house?” Tobias asked.

“No, it belongs to Rotigan, one of my family’s oldest friends.” Said Vivian. “We’re going to be staying with him until we get set up in our house.” Both Tobias and Vivian exited the moving van and headed toward the front door of the house. They were just halfway up the yard when the door opened and man Tobias assumed was Rotigan walked out.

“You had me worried Viv.” The man said has he gave Vivian a strong hug. “It’s good to see you though.” He was at least a foot taller than Vivian, with red hair streaked with grey and a bushy beard that matched.

“Good to see you to.” Tobias watched his mother smile as she hugged her friend, knowing that she was happy here. Somehow, that made him feel better about moving there.

“Hell of a mess having you travel all that distance with a full moon out.” Rotigan said as he finally released Vivian from their hug. “Did you have any trouble?”

“The trip was remarkably smooth given the circumstances.” Vivian stepped to one side to let Tobias meet her friend. “Jerome was able to guide us, and Toby here was a great help.”

The man extended his hand to Tobias. “Names Rotigan Birthwood. It’s nice to see you grown into a capable man.”

Tobias shook Rotigan’s hand. “Thank you sir.”

“Call me Rotigan boy.” He said enthusiastically. “And welcome to Bram’s Hollow. I think you’ll like it here, once you get used to the neighbors that is.”

Rotigan walked both Tobias and Vivian into the stone brick house, and offered them both seats in his parlor as he made them a kettle of tea. The house was oddly decorated with handmade wood furniture and a variety of tapestries that all depicted various scenes of what must have been Wolfkin in various poses. The Wolfkin looked to be more on the wolf side than man, in fact the only difference was Wolfkin had longer limbs and walked upright.

“What was this about an incident?” Vivian asked as Rotigan served the tea. “Jerome had mentioned it just before set out for Bram’s Hollow.”

Rotigan looked over at Tobias and cleared out his throat. “Lad, I have some matters to discuss with your mother.” Tobias didn’t like where this was going. “Would you like to take a walk about town? The shops should be opening soon and the lake is prettier than a picture this time of day.”

“I would like to stay.” Tobias politely objected. “I was just uprooted from my home and would like to know why.” He looked at his mother hoping for some sort of empathy.

“I’m sorry Toby, Rotigan is probably right.” She patted him on the shoulder. “I promise you’ll know in time.”

Defeated, Tobias stood and headed for the front door.

“Head over to the bakery, if you like.” Rotigan said. “Just tell them who you are and that you’re staying with old Rotigan. They’ll set you up with a fine breakfast.” Tobias said nothing and walked out the front door.

The sun was higher in the sky now and the town was a bit livelier. Tobias walked down the cobblestone road back toward Main Street. Surprise hit Tobias like a kick from an angry mule when he took a good look at the townspeople out for a walk in the morning air. Almost none of them seemed human at all. A young woman no older than twenty walked past Tobias and gave a quick greeting. She looked like Jerome, pale and floating as she walked. Her body was slightly translucent. She must have been a spirit like newly found great uncle. The ghostly visage seemed happier than Jerome however and showed no trace of the consuming shadow that he had.

Tobias continued his walk toward the market street and saw more of the wondrous townsfolk. He saw what at first he thought was a hairless cat wearing clothes, walking on its back legs. But the creature looked up and said ‘good morning’ as it past what Tobias could only assume to be big foot wearing a t-shirt and loose pants. Tobias spotted a nearby tree stump and sat on it trying to grasp what he was seeing. He looked out at the lake, clearly viewable from almost anywhere in the mountainside town. He saw something jump out of the body of water and dive right back in. He couldn’t make it out but Tobias could have sworn it had a fish tail.

Tobias heard a tiny squeaking noise that pulled his eyes away from the lake and back to the stump where he saw a small chipmunk looking up at him. He locked eyes with the animal that just looked back without any sort of fear of him. This made Tobias chuckle to himself and talked to the rodent. “You’re the most normal thing I’ve seen today. You know that?”

“I’ll take that as a complement.” The chipmunk responded.

The talking rodent surprised Tobias so much that he fell back and off of the tree stump onto the dirt yard behind him. The chipmunk leaped onto the stump and looked at the fallen Tobias. “Sorry. Are you alright?”

Tobias said nothing at first and stared wide eyed at the animal before finally saying, “How are you talking?”

“Do you think I’m really a chipmunk?”

“Uh, yea.” Tobias was confused by the question.

“Great! I think I finally have it down.” The chipmunk jumped into the air out of celebration. “Can I ask you something?” Tobias silently nodded. The chipmunk closed its eyes and started to grow. Its fur turned white and its ears grew longer. After a few seconds of transformation Tobias was now looking at a white rabbit. “How does the rabbit look?” It asked.

“F-fine.” Tobias spat out. “Looks like a rabbit to me.”

The rabbit was growing once again but this time it was growing much larger than before. The white fur receded into tan skin while the ears became long pointed ones. The rabbit was a girl, only a bit different. She looked slender with spiked back blonde hair that accented the pointy ears. She looked as if she was wearing emerald green eyeshadow but it was clearly not makeup. Her skin was tan without the slightest sign of an imperfection. The girl, who looked at least thirteen or fourteen, extended her hand. “You’re the new kid, am I right?”

Tobias hesitated for a moment before taking the girl’s hand and getting back to his feet. “I guess that would be me.” Tobias answered.

“My names Isabelle, that’s my house right behind you.” Tobias turned and looked at the house that seemed as if it welcomed nature to come in and out as it pleased.

“I’m Tobias, my mom and I are staying with Rotigan over there.” He pointed back at the stone brick house.

“So, what are you?” Isabelle asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m a shapeshifter. I can form into other living creatures.” She said motioning back to the tree stump as if to remind him of when she was a rabbit and chipmunk no more than a minute ago. “Well, only smaller ones right now, but I’m working on it.” She saw that the confused look on the new kid’s face was unwavering. “Rotigan is a Wolfkin. Is that what you are?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Tobias answered realizing that he really didn’t know. “My mom is though.”

“Well that should mean that you are. What is your dad?”

“I don’t know. He left a long time ago.”

“Oh.” Isabelle felt bad for asking the question. “When did you get to the hollow?”

“Just now.” He was thankful for the change of subject. “Rotigan sent me out here to look around while they talk about some incident.” He looked over at Isabelle. “You don’t know what it could be, do you?”

“No, sorry. My parents don’t tell me anything.” Her voice was high pitched but soothing. “If you want I can walk with you.”

“Sure.” Tobias was glad to have friendly company.

“Are you hungry? I was about to go get a honey cake from Sloan’s.” Isabelle seemed excited at the thought of her treat.

“Yea, that sounds good to me.” Tobias realized just how hungry he was after finding his last few meals unfulfilling.

Together they walked downhill toward Main Street and the lakeside. Tobias spotted more and more of the town’s inhabitants and kept asking Isabelle what they were. He told her about the walking hairless cat and she laughed. “They’re called Wraglings.” She said. “They are gatherers and remarkable diggers. They helped dig all the caves for the monster’s guild.”

“What’s the monster’s guild?” Tobias asked.

“It’s one of the four guilds that represent the townsfolk.” Isabelle talked like she was reciting information she learned ages ago. “Everyone in Bram’s Hollow is in one of the four guilds. My parents and I are in the beast guild. That’s what Wolfkin are too.”

Isabelle and Tobias walked down Main Street toward the baker that had the name ‘Sloan’s’ acid etched onto the front window. Tobias opened the door and let Isabelle walk in first. The man behind the counter was squat and wrinkled. He had to stand on a stool to reach the top of the counter to take their orders. Isabelle ordered two honey cakes and two glasses of berry juice. Sloan, the squat man, took the order but never took his eyes off of Tobias.

“You’re Vivian Gates’ son am I right?” he had a gravelly voice though it was without malice.

“Yes sir.” Tobias answered he was handed the cakes Isabelle ordered.

“You look like her.” Sloan said in a matter of fact tone. “Tell her to come say hello, it’s been ages.”

“Yes sir.” Tobias and Isabelle walked back outside and down the street.

Isabelle took a sizeable bite of her honey cake and made the most bizarre chipping sound of enjoyment that Tobias had ever heard. “I love Sloan’s honey cakes.” She said between bites. “My mother and I have tried to make them ourselves but Sloan has us beat hands down.”

Tobias took a bite of his cake. It did tasted good but unsurprisingly flat. He ended up eating only half of it, giving the rest to a thankful Isabelle.

“So, there are the beast and monster’s guilds.” Tobias was getting back on topic trying to understand. “What are the other two?”

“The spirit and undead guilds.” Isabelle said with a grim tone.

“Aren’t those the same thing?” Tobias asked.

“Not at all.” Isabelle said. “The spirit guild is for Revenants, Shades and Phantasms, things like that. Both bound and freed spirits.” Isabelle took a long sip of her berry juice. “Undead though are unnatural, the dead that don’t stay that way.”

“You mean zombies?” Tobias asked.

“Just for starters but there are Zombies, Ghouls and Vampires. They only come out at night. My father says they’re not to be trusted. The other guilds almost fell to their rule once before. At least that is that my parents said.”

Isabelle escorted Tobias threw the market street showing him the storefronts and telling him about every odd creature that Tobias pointed out to her. One in particular that caught his eye was a man no taller than Isabelle but hairless and with two heads. That enough could startle Tobias but each head only had one eye. The creature was walking out of the tailor carrying three newly bought shirts draped over its arm. Tobias carefully pointed at the creature, “What is that?” He asked.

“That’s Mr. Randal.” Isabelle answered. “He’s a Biclops.”

Tobias watched the man scurry up the road with his new shirts. “Do both heads talk at the same time or do they take turns?”

“It depends on mood he’s in.” Isabelle chuckled in a high pitched tone. “He’s one of Dr. Donavan assistants, so his mood drifts toward the bad most of the time.”

“Who’s Dr. Donavan?” Tobias asked.

“She’s the head of the Monster’s guild.” Isabelle answered. “I’ve hardly ever seen her though. She spends all her time in her lab up at the castle.”

Tobias turned and looked up the mountain at the castle that was built into it. “So that’s who lives in the castle?”

“Not just Donavan, all four guild heads live there.”

“They all live together?” Tobias asked. “That’s and odd arrangement.”

“They each live in a different wing.” Isabelle said. “At least that what my dad says. I’ve only been inside a couple of times.”