Secrets Of A Small Town Novels & Stories

Michael raised an eyebrow like he was putting pieces together. Lorraine took a slow sip of wine, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Don’t worry… your little secret is safe with me. For now. But family secrets this big? They have a way of coming out whether you want them to or not.” The silence that followed was suffocating. Maya was still in the bathroom getting sick, and I sat there wondering how much longer we could keep this house of cards from completely collapsing.

And that, she realized, was going to be the hardest part. Tom drove them out of the city, the urban sprawl slowly giving way to open stretches of hills and distant woods. The safe house was a wooden derelict cabin, hidden among the trees like a secret only a handful of people knew. It wasn’t luxurious, but it was the perfect place to disappear.

Autumn had never truly believed in keeping secrets, lying, or avoiding reality. She knew she wasn't perfect—she'd told her share of little white lies, hidden things from her aunt, covered up crushes, failed quizzes, even fibbed about where she’d been after curfew back when she used to hang out with Calvin. But this? This was something else entirely. This secret throbbed in her chest like a second heartbeat, heavy and insistent, every time she glanced at the man lying in the spare bedroom. It was the kind of secret that demanded attention, refusing to be buried beneath ordinary worries.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have just assumed it was the wealthy outer suburbs of Lockdale. How they managed to keep this place a secret though baffled me. A town this size so close by? I could easily see it being a popular holiday area. And yet they’d kept up the illusion of being a small country town this whole time. It was impressive. Along the way, Kieran was pointing out notable things, landmarks and other interesting places, but it was as we rounded a corner onto a new strip of shops that I saw something. A building that completely absorbed my attention.

How could she remember how she got there? No way. She could not be trapped there. She had to get out of there. Morticia tried her hardest to calm down. Then she dashed through the secret passage, looking for a way out. … On the other side. Clearwater Town was a small town 50 kilometers southeast of the Heaven Watcher. The town was not large, but it was very prosperous because it was located near a traffic junction. The town had many tall buildings, and the street was bustling with people.

Children run around from angle to angle as their laughter moved along the place with a chiming of bicycle bells. The sight of all these made my breath hitched as a sudden, unnatural chill crept from the base of the back of my neck. Because nobody actually acted like they're protecting some huge secret here. Nobody acted nervous or scared or suspicious. The town just behaved as if this history was just some completely ordinary thing to them. Were they even aware of the mystery behind the man? With one final conclusion, I said to myself —that secret, wasn't really here. That secret really lies beyond what these people are seeing.

No, I wanted her to feel even more than that, far more than she could handle. I had searched for her without rest over the years, never stopping, never giving up. I followed every small whisper and every weak lead, no matter how useless it seemed at first. I chased every piece of information that could bring me closer to her. And now, after all that time, the path had led me here, to this quiet and slow town. It was the kind of place where people kept things hidden and did not ask questions. A place where secrets could stay buried for a long time, and where someone could disappear without anyone truly noticing or caring enough to look deeper.

No, it’s not Father Ward’s busy work schedule that concerns me. It’s this town, and the strange things that hide here. See, for whatever reason—Fate, Destiny, Providence, Blind Dumb Luck, Losing the Cosmic Sweepstakes—my friends and I have been chosen as the ones who get to know all the dark little secrets of this town. We don’t look for them or seek them out. They come to us. Like iron filings to magnets, these secrets and stories and half-truths come to us in many different ways. In fact, one of them is sitting before me on my booth’s table, now.

### Anacortes is a little coastal town, an hour and a half outside Seattle, and also home to the best hot chocolate in the state. “You’re not trying to kidnap me are you?” Deagan joked as Aria expertly dodged traffic when they entered the town. “What gave it away?” she asked calmly and he shrugged uncaringly. “Oh I don’t know, maybe it was stealing my car keys, it could also be you bringing me to a small coastal town near the border of Canada.” Her surprised look was enough to cause a smirk to tug at his lips, but he refused to let it escape. “We’re at least sixty miles from the border.” She informed him and yet again he shrugged.

Every word landed like a stone in still water, rippling outward into territories I didn't want to examine. "Dallas might be head over heels," Hazel continued, "might look at you and see someone worth crying over. But I don't. I see a man with secrets and blood on his clothes and a family that reeks of something rotten." She paused, letting it sink in. "She's my best friend. She's all I have. And you're going to destroy her without even meaning to." The bathroom faucet shut off. We both heard it, the sudden silence pressing down like a hand.