"So how do we find someone who might know where the colt might be? If we don't have a way to reach them," Sara asked.
"I have an idea. We just need to find a phone," Nathan replied. He got off the main road and pulled over by the side of the highway in town.
They walked into a convenience store and Nathan asked if he could use the phone. The store clerk was a middle-aged man with a balding head.
"You will have to buy something first," the man said staring at Nathan.
Sara walked over to the counter and poured a couple of snacks she picked off the shelf. The man scanned everything.
"Fifty-two dollars and twelve cents," the man said to Sara who looked at Nathan.
He sighed and pulled out three twenty-dollar bills. He handed it to the clerk. The clerk passed a handheld telephone through a tiny space on the counter.
"Thanks," Nathan said and dialed nine one one.
"This is Nathan. Jane, can you call me back on this number?" Nathan said and hung up.
The clerk stared at him with a frown. Sara took a protein bar out of the snacks they just bought. She nibbled on it as they waited for the call.
About five minutes later the phone rang.
"Hello, Jane? Have you heard of the Colt? Hello….. Hello," Nathan said but the call ended when he mentioned the Colt.
"What… what did she say," Sara asked.
"She did not say anything, I think she hung up," Nathan said.
As they walked out of the store the phone rang again and the clerk called them back.
"Stay there, I'll send a car for you," Jane said over the phone.
'I did not think it would work,' Nathan thought when she hung up.
They walked out of the store and Nathan saw a boy poke his head out of the alleyway. Nathan noticed he was staring at Sara's snacks.
"Did you see that?" Sara said to Nathan.
"What?" Nathan asked.
"Never mind, we need to get out of here," Sara suggested. She got into the car.
"No, we have to wait for Jane," Nathan insisted.
"Let's go find somewhere to spend the night," Nathan said and got into the car.
As they drove down the road, a creature ran in front of the car and Nathan slammed on the brakes.
"Did you see that?" Nathan asked Sara and she nodded.
Nathan got out of the car.
"What are you doing?" Sara asked.
Nathan checked under the vehicle and looked around for the creature.
"What was that?" Nathan asked as he looked.
"A cat?" Sara said and shrugged.
"That was bigger than a cat, maybe a dog," Nathan said, and got into the car.
The moment he did the creature pounced at him through the window. It growled, saliva thinned with every bark.
Nathan leaned away from the window and rolled it up to trap it. Sara opened her door and ran out. Nathan followed her, escaping through her entrance.
As they ran, they saw a boy who waved them over. It was the same boy Nathan saw in the alley.
"You can see them too?" the boy said as he crawled through a hole in a fence.
"Yes, what was that?" Nathan said as he followed the boy through the fence.
"We call them Night Monsters," the boy said.
They followed the boy into an abandoned building.
"Where are we?" Sara asked.
"Our hideout," the boy said and Nathan and Sara looked around. Kids emerged from their hiding spots.
Nathan and Sara looked at each other.