As my head kept bouncing off of the glass surface, a slight shiver ran down my back. Why was the glass so cold? I thought to myself. As I slowly peeled one eye open, I got the answer to my question.

I was riding a bus in the dead of the night. Hence my body was jittering every few seconds as a result of the bumpy road ahead.

Taking the turquoise scarf that I had wrapped around my neck snuggly; I nestled my chin into it further. Man, it really is cold! Even though I'm bundled up tightly in my dark coat, jeans, and boots, I felt like no match for this unforgiving weather.

Tracing one gloved finger across the window, I drew a sad face using the condensation. I've never seen such heavy snowfall before. The trees and grass were completely submerged in fluffy blankets of snow. How pretty...

As I broke my absentminded gaze from the window, I noticed that I was the only other person apart from the driver on this flickering bus. How ominous...

As I gently placed a hand down on the seat beside me, I felt a crinkle. It was a slip of paper. Taking it into my hand, I started to read the contents.

Huh? A summer job on a farm? Wait, is it even summer right now because it doesn't look like it! I wonder how this will all pan out. I've never worked on a farm before...

Once the bus came to a sudden halt, I scrambled to look for my belongings. Only a simple trolley suitcase? Looks like I'm travelling light...

After thanking the bus driver, I got off the bus to try and get my bearings on this new world. Uh, is this the right place? From the looks of it, there isn't anything but this bus stop and trees for miles...

As I turned around to ask the bus driver for directions, I was disappointed to see that he had already left. Great, now I'm really stranded in the middle of nowhere!

The sound of woodland creatures like owls hooting and wolves howling was enough to make me slowly back away from the pine trees. As I stood there in the middle of the road shivering, I tried breathing warm air into my hands to warm myself up. But that had little to no profound effect on me.

The sound of a monstrous engine could be heard approaching in the distance. As I watched the headlights of a Range Rover come into view, I smiled as I tried to get the driver's attention by waving my arms wildly in the air. Hopefully hitchhiking will go by smoother this time.

The car started to swerve to the left and then to the right as it had no intention of slowing down. Sensing an incoming calamity, I got off the road to watch safely from the sidelines. And sure enough, the car just drove past me.

Looks like a group of high school athletes. "Drink driving..." I mumbled to myself. Maybe it was better that they passed me by. Judging by their driving skills I can't see hitchhiking going down well with them anyway.

Since I can't rely on others for directions to the farm, I decided to open up my status window. 'Head to Cedarwood Grange for lodging'. That must be the name of the farm. Unfortunately, I can't see any signposts pointing me towards the direction of the farm.

Ugh, looks like I'll have to follow the road. Hopefully, the main town isn't too far away, the last thing I need is to catch frostbite...

After what felt like hours, I eventually came across a gas station. Perfect! I can just ask one of the workers for directions!

As I went to push open the glass door, I had to quickly step to the side as a group of rowdy teenagers were exiting the door first. Hey, isn't this the group that passed me by before? God, they've even bought more drinks now. They're probably going to have a heavy hangover tomorrow.

The only girl in the group who was leaving held the door out for me politely. I thought that would be the end of the interaction as I gave her my thanks. But I was suddenly stopped from taking another step forward as I felt a hand grip my shoulder.

"Hey, do I know you?" The dark-haired jock asked.

No. Please don't tell me he is—

"How much have you been drinking? Everyone knows everyone here in this backwoods nowheresville." The blonde boy perked up as he shoved his hands into his red baseball jacket. "She's obviously just passing through."

"Ah, you're right." The boy released my shoulder and scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

I gave a quick nod as I rushed inside. I've gotten paranoid. Bennett could be anyone, at this rate I can't trust a single man in this world... as I clutched my chest in fear, the loud sound of coughing caught my attention.

"Are ya alright there, miss?" The middle-aged cashier asked. "Ya look like death."

"Oh, I'm just kind of lost." As I wheeled my suitcase behind me, I made my way towards the till. "I need to find Cedarwood Grange. You wouldn't by any chance know where that is, would you?"

The man slightly frowned. "Afraid not. But give me a sec and I'll ask Terry in the back. He might know." As the man excused himself, I started to tap on the side of a nearby candy shelf as I anxiously awaited his return.

Looking out the window, the two boys from before could be seen still outside talking. Must be discussing something important I thought to myself. The girl who previously held the door open for me stuck her head out of the car to yell something at the boys.

The girl eventually gave up as they brushed her off without giving her a second thought. As she turned to the only other boy in the driver's seat of the car, she sighed in defeat. As I continued to observe the group, I noticed the street lamps beginning to flicker.

As if it couldn't get any stranger, the lights inside of the gas station soon followed suit. "What the hell?" I mumbled to myself. Not only was the flickering becoming wilder, but the ground started to shake from beneath me too. Is this... an earthquake?

Looking back outside, the trees were even starting to shake as a sudden gust of wind blew at them. As the boys raced towards their friends in the car, what happened next felt like slow motion. The Range Rover started to levitate before it was slammed straight into one of the gas pumps.

As the car combusted into flames, I felt my jaw drop. But I had bigger things to worry about. As a large crack in the flooring was headed straight for me at lighting fast speed, I barely had enough time to react to the large shelf that came crashing down behind me.