The van moved slowly along the deserted street. The main road seemed nice enough. Coffee shops and green grocers lined the sidewalk, scattered throughout with small apartment blocks. Street lamps flickered around them, casting eerie shadows across the pavement. Nick pulled up alongside a building with a flickering sign.
The Sleepy Hollow Hotel and Bar.

A wooden sign swung from the front of the building, depicting a flaming skull.

"This place seems... Interesting." Jenny smiled. "This should be fun."

Genive fiddled with the toggles of her dirty hoodie as David opened the back door of the van. "I think your definition of fun is very different from mine."

The five of them piled out and walked across the cobblestone path. The heel of Jennifer's shoe caught a stone, and she fell forward. Nick lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground.
"Thanks." She breathed.

The peeling rubber toe of Davids shoe caught the end of another stone, and he toppled face first into the road. No one moved.
"Thanks." He grumbled, as he pushed himself to his feet. Genieve chuckled as he wiped a cut across his cheek with his sleeve.

Jenny pushed open the door to the bar. Nick walked over to a man behind a desk with a large register.
"Hi. We'd like to sign in for the night."

The old man's steely grey eyes wove their way up to Nicks face.
"You look a little young to have gone grey." He said weakly. Nicks rubbed his hand across the back of his silver hair.

"It's a genetic thing."

The old man nodded slightly. "Course it is. Sorry, but what did you ask?"

Nick crossed his arms. "We'd like two rooms please."

The man laughed. It was a hollow, raspy sound, like wood scraping on concrete.
"You can't be serious. With all that's-"

"Can you just give us the rooms please?" Nick cut him off.

The man shrugged. "Suit yourselves."
He scribbled something down the register, and then handed Nick two room keys.
"Mind you don't loose your heads."

Riley grabbed Nicks shoulder to pull him away. "Don't worry, we're not really the partying type."

The man's eyes locked into him. "That's not what I meant."

The group dropped their small amount of luggage in the rooms allocated to them. One for the three boys, and one for the girls. They made their way down to the bar and restaurant.

David looked up from his menu as the waitress, a thin blonde girl with freckles and a few pimples scattered across her face, came over.

"Ain't seen you five around 'ere before." She smiled.

"We're just passing through." Nick assured her.

The girl shrugged. "Still, nice to see a few new faces around." She giggled quietly to herself for a moment. "I'm Sunny, by the way. What can I get y'all?"

Nick, Jenny and Riley quickly ordered their meals, before the Sunny turned to David and Genieve.
"And you pair?"

David looked through the menu. "Do you guys have anything bigger than the 'challenge club sandwich'?"

Sunny stared at him. "I-I don't think so. First job and all, and I've only been here a few weeks. I don't think no ones ever exactly finished it so they didn't bother."

David frowned. "Bother. Alright, well, I'll have one of those. And a large side of fries."

"Same here." Genieve pitched in.

Sunny blinked at them. "You're sure 'bout that? Cause, and no offence o'course but, you don't like the kinda people who'd eat that much.

Riley burst out laughing, and Nick had to elbow him in the ribs to get him to stop. Genieve snickered, and David grinned.
"None taken. But yes, we're sure."

Nodding slightly, and still staring at David with a look of astonishment, Sunny wrote down their order.
"Right well, that'll all be out in 'bout fifteen minutes. If you can finish your sandwiches, the whole table eats free."

***

Genieve drummed her fingers on the table as they waited for their meal.

"You know maybe this place isn't so bad after all." David said as he wolfed down a slice of complimentary garlic bread.

Riley sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose under his glasses. "There is no such thing, as a Headless Horseman."

"I'd beg to differ." Said a voice from the table behind them.

The five turned around to see a short, round man, sitting alone at a table, a large glass of frothy beer nestled in his hands. He took a sip before continuing.
"Folks have been spotted him around here for centuries. Thing is, these last few months, these spottings have been a little more... Dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Jenny asked, leaning her elbows in the table.

The man nodded, taking another swig of his drink. "You didn't hear about the Parkers case then."

The group shook their heads.

"A few weeks ago, a young couple, newlyweds, came into town on their way to their honeymoon destination. Decided to go out for a drink one night, they did."
He shook his head and made a tsk-tsk-I got sound. "Didn't end so well."

Genieve looked even paler than usual. "A-And what happened?"

The man shrugged. "The police found 'em next morning in the street. Well, most of them anyway..."
He drew his finger across his neck slowly. Then, he finished his beer, left his money on the table, and walked out.

David swallowed his mouthful of garlic bread. "I think I lost my appetite."

At that moment, Sunny arrived balancing three dishes in her hands. She named em as she set them down.
"A carbonara for you ma'am." She placed a steaming pasta dish in front of Jenny.
"A medium rare steak." She placed the large chunk of meat in front of Nick.
"And a cheeseburger for you." Sunny placed a burger in front of Riley, before turning to David.
"Your meals'll be out in just a second hun." She winked, walking back to the kitchens, accidentally kicking the edge of a chair leg and almost crashing into a table.

A moment later, she came out holding two extremely long plates, each resting with one end in her hand, and the other balanced on her shoulder. Two, very long, very overstuffed sandwiches sat across the plates, surrounded by what looked like an entire deep fryers worth of fries between them. She placed them in front of the two gingers.
"Boń appetité." She smiled. "I'll be back when you're done with the bill. Should you need it."

David used a steak knife to cut a chunk off the end of his sandwich.
"Never mind. Appetites back."

***

Half an hour later, Sunny re-emerged from the kitchen. She almost dropped the pitcher of water she was carrying when she saw the groups table.

Jenny sat there, pushing a few mouthfuls of pasta around her plate. Nick hadn't even touched his side of salad, and Riley nibbled unenthusiastically on a chip. The other side of the table however, was the complete opposite.

Genieve lay with her head buried in her crossed arms in the table, and David rinsed down his last mouthful of sandwich with a large glass of water. Nothing was left on their plates.
"Well I never." Sunny breathed as she approached. "I suppose you won't be needing the bill then..."

Genieve burped.

"I think that's a no." Nick sighed. He nodded and helped Jenny to her feet.

David rummaged around in his pocket as he stood up.
"But uh, heres tip." He tipped a small handful of coins into Sunny's hand. "Oh... And I think that's a breath mint."

She laughed, handing him back the wrapped mint. "Maybe you should keep that darlin', there's an awful lotta garlic on those sandwiches."

David smiled weakly, and the five of them headed for their rooms...