About two hours away from the nearest city...
The town of Beaver Ridge ... a somewhat reclusive, small rural town out in the middle of nowhere ... or, depending upon the preferred choice of colloquialism, some could also say that it's located out 'in the sticks' or 'the boonies'...
A town where just about everybody knows everyone's business ... though they will deny it ... and will take it with them to their graves.
Somewhere in the vicinity of the furthest outskirts of town ... along a barely ever traveled stretch of County Route 152 ... off an even less traveled Milsbridge Road...
You'll find the Lazinski's new residence. The house itself is an old, immense four-story ... not including the full attic and basement ... modified, quasi-Victorian style farmhouse. And along with the house, there is also a rather large barn, which houses nearly a dozen horse stalls; both spacious work and storage areas; and an enormous second story loft.
The entire property entails nearly an acre and a half of land; much of which is covered by woods. It's fairly secluded, with the closest neighbors living about two miles or so away.
Perhaps it's this type of lonely isolation that is causing Beth's recent sudden resurgence of anxiety and uneasiness experienced in their new home.
************
Another restless, long-drawn-out night eventually passed, and morning had finally arrived; and not soon enough as far as Beth was concerned. That decided upon combination of Kava Root and Valerian didn't yield the result she was hoping for, and she spent most of the remainder of the night tossing and turning; plagued by that unnerving feeling that someone ... or something ... was watching her from the shadows.
Beth's sitting on the padded, wooden bench mounted against the wall just below their bedroom's huge Bay window. For the past hour or so, she's been 'planted' there ... like a deeply rooted tree ... intensely staring outside; predominantly focusing on the old barn's lofts doors; which for some unknown reason have been strongly drawing her attention.
She doesn't know why, but Beth believes ... or more like strongly feels ... that whatever it was that was watching her last night is now out in the barn's loft; and it's still watching.
The alarm clock on Martin's nightstand suddenly buzzes, but Beth is so focused on the barn's loft doors that she is oblivious to it. Martin, on the other hand, is abruptly jostled from his sleep by the resounding, electronic-sounding-like buzzing; and with his face still buried in his pillow, reaches out an arm and blindly fumbles it about in an attempt to hit the snooze button. And after a few failed attempts, he finally manages to silence his alarm clock.
Another minute or two passes, and Martin reluctantly decides that it's finally time to officially get up and face yet another mundane workday. He groggily sits up and lethargically reaches his arms over his head to get in that 'just-woke-up-morning-stretch'.
A little more cognizant now, having shaken off that 'awakening fuzzy head syndrome', Martin notices Beth intensely staring out the window; in what appears to be some really deep thought. He calls out to her...
"Beth, hon', are you okay?"
There's no response; she just continues staring out the window with a sort of far-off gaze embedded in her eyes. Martin tries calling out to her again, this time a little louder...
"Hello ... Beth?"
With that, Beth finally snaps out of her trancelike state. "What ... I'm sorry; did you say something?"
Beth finally gets up from the bench and takes a few steps away from the window; although, she keeps taking quick glances back over her shoulder to look out it.
"I said..." Martin gets up out of bed and walks over to Beth; then wraps his arms around her waist to embrace her. "Are you okay? Is something bothering you?"
"No..." Beth answers in an unconvincing manner as she subtly lowers her head and keeps her eyes looking down towards the floor, "I'm fine."
"Beth..."
"No, really; nothing's wrong. ... Really."
Martin gently places his fingers under Beth's chin and raises her head to look her in the eyes. "Beth, come on now; what's wrong?"
Beth gives in and somberly replies, "I don't know..."
She listlessly pulls away from her husband's arms and meanders back over to bench under the Bay window, then focuses her attention back out towards the barn's loft doors; momentarily ignoring Martin.
"Beth ... hello; earth to Beth?"
Still looking out the window, Beth, barely audible, softly mutters under her breath, "There's something out there. ... Something's out in the barn watching us now. I can feel it."
Martin saw her lips moving, but didn't hear a single word she said; and is a bit confused at the moment...
"Beth, what did you say; I couldn't hear you? What's going on; what's the matter?"
Without turning around to look at Martin, still staring out the Bay window, Beth kind of redirects the subject of the conversation...
"Don't you find it odd how little we paid for this property?"
Martin thinks that was a bit random, but happy that at least Beth was talking to him. Starting to get dressed for work, he asks...
"What do you mean; odd how?"
Beth looks back to Martin, stepping away from the window...
"I was talking with Trish the other day..." Once again, at first glance, Beth seems to be sidetracking the conversation momentarily. "You remember Trish, my cousin; don't you, Martin? She's a real estate agent out in New Jersey."
"Yeah, I remember Trish. So, what about her?"
"Right; so, when I told her how big this house was ... not to mention about the barn and how much land was included in the purchase ... she was stunned. She said we could have easily paid five to six times the amount that we paid; and even that would be considered a fairly good bargain."
Not exactly sure what Beth's point was ... or if she was even trying to make one ... Martin simply replies, "So; we got lucky."
Beth doesn't appear to be too convinced with that simplistic explanation. "Maybe ... I don't know ... it just seems strange to me. I mean, to pay so little for what it's actually worth."
"And how can we be sure of its actual worth?" Martin rebuts while trying to rationalize, "You know, this isn't Parsippany; it's a small, 'hole-in-the-wall' town called Beaver Ridge. Hell, I don't even know if this place is on any map. Maybe the real estate market here just isn't as lucrative as it is out in New Jersey. Anyway, I'm sure not going to look a gift horse in the mouth."
Again, Beth's not convinced; a price discrepancy that great is more than just the location of the property or the differing market values. No there's something else to it. But for now, Beth decides to concede and let that go for the moment, as she branches off onto a new topic...
"I suppose. ... But, honestly, it's more than just what we paid for this property."
Martin has the sneaking suspicion that he's going to regret asking, but he really doesn't have a choice. "Then; what?"
"Well; whenever Anna and I go into town, people there just stare at us without saying a word."
Martin quickly retorts, "And do you try speaking to them while you're in town?"
Beth admits, "Well ... no..." then she adds, "But I swear sometimes it looks like they're talking about us behind our backs."
"Talking about you ... behind your back? And you think this because...?"
"Look, I know this may make me seem a little paranoid..."
Beth pauses briefly to observe Martin's reaction, which is him simply looking at her with raised eyebrows. She explains...
"Seriously, I catch them out of the corners of my eyes at times starting to whisper to one another when we walk by them. I'm not making this up; it really happens, Martin."
Not wanting to push the issue, Martin tries to be diplomatic in his approach...
"I see ... well; I could certainly understand why that might bother you. But Beth, hon, you know, we are still technically strangers in the area, so..."
"And that's more of a reason why they should be talking to us, and not behind our backs; to find out who we are and get to know us better. ... No; this is different." Beth takes a brief moment to gather her thoughts before continuing. "I honestly believe it's more than just us being new in town."
"Okay; so, what is it then?"
"I get this feeling that there's something they know about this place that they don't want to tell us about. ... Or are afraid to."