{1} Astoria Krane- There's a Glitch in the Matrix

Credit:zrfphoto
        

Dear Reader,

I knew the minute we set foot at this "perfect" paradise of a place that something was way off. 

I know this is going to sound like one heck of a story, but you have to believe me when I say... it's REAL.  All of it.  Everything you thought was a fairytale, all of the make-believe characters you thought up as a kid, the creatures, the good, and the absolutely terrifying are all REAL!  I know you probably think I'm crazy, but I'm the biggest skeptic there is and I saw something, well a lot of some things.  SO MUCH CRAZY!!! I witnessed it with my own two eyes.  And I know I'm in my right mind... I know I am.  I have to be. 

I just need to get this out, so that someone... somewhere... knows the truth. 

I need to tell my story...  (then later someone needs to get me a therapist)

My name is Astoria Krane, but everyone calls me Stori.  I just moved to Rivyn Rock with my dad.  He was getting a new job doing security (he's retired military). We were both starting a new chapter of our lives after my mom just left us... bring on the emotional baggage from that one, but that is a story for another day.

The people were too nice, this so-called picturesque vacation spot in the Ozark mountains was exactly what it advertised for, which I'm still not buying it (there's got to be a glitch in the matrix). The food here is absolutely divine, and the weirdest thing of them all is that my dad fit right in with the locals like he had been a part of them for many years.  That never happens... he's such a hermit. 

Then there are a bunch of restrictions/laws on Rivyn Rock that the whole town and the tourists have to follow or they don't allow them back. One of them is that they have a stupid curfew at NINE unless you have an essential work pass to be out at that time.  Of course, dad gets one, so I am stuck at the house until he returns.  Another one is that they only allow a certain number of people to actually live/visit at one time. They have someone that actually sits at the gate and counts the people... oh yeah, speaking of the gate. They have a GATED COMMUNITY like some crazy cult or something.  If we are being totally honest, that is what I thought the minute I saw the entrance at the bottom of the hill.  They do not want any unwanted wanders just hiking around because heaven forbid there be 81 people instead of 80 people on Rivyn Rock.  

My dad was telling me that one of the major rules the tourist have is that they have pre-scheduled itineraries that they have to keep or they will basically kick them out.  He said this is one of his jobs.  He has to oversee that tourists #5, #12, and #15 are where they are supposed to be at all times.  He works with a team of security officers that run surveillance 24/7, and do perimeter checks on the outer walls.  To be honest, it sounds super boring, and a little stalkerish.  He said it's for everyone's protection; both for the tourists and for the residents of Rivyn Rock.

One of the first scariest things he told me the first time he came home really late was that they had lost one of the tourists.  They kept a good watch on all of them, but this one didn't like having the play-by-play for his vacation, so he wandered off.  They tracked him up the mountain but completely lost him.  I could see that there was something else my dad wasn't telling me.  I know he saw something, you could see it in his eyes and in the way he almost scolded me to never, ever go wandering in the woods on Rivyn Rock...

Crap... My dad's home! I will have to leave you with that. Believe me... we've just scratched the surface of this crazy, weird, psycho place.

Bye for now...

Stori