text: Bliss: Horrible things happen in Bliss. Some say the small town is cursed, haunted, home to a cult, among other things. One outrageous accusation is that the town is ran by a group of corrupt politicians who orchestrate publicity stunts in order to bring attention to the town, and the issues they want to address. The odd thing is, that most of the incidents claim victims who are not native to the town. Almost as if the town is weeding out those who weren’t born on it's soil, the newcomers always end up disappearing or the victim of some cruel and strange crime. One such case involved a young man and his father. For sake of discretion, we will omit their actual names and replace them. Frank, and his son Gideon were traveling for the summer when they were stranded in the southern United States. After a week of gathering funds and resources to keep moving north back home, they found themselves in central Georgia. Crossing the state became difficult after the vehicle they were using needed extended maintenance. Arriving in Bliss, the first mechanic on the road seemed less than eager to help them, but managed to get them on their way quickly. “Now you can leave so fast we won’t even remember you” He said with a nervous chuckle as they paid him for the service. “Do you think there are rooms available at the motel?” Asked Frank, the father of the sixteen year old boy whose attention span was that of a scared rabbit. “Oh no, you can go much further than Bliss, no reason to stay here.” The mechanic made it very apparent that it would be a waste of the small family’s time to stay in the tiny town. “Thank you, have a good day, it was nice to meet you.” Frank said, leading his son back to their car. “Likewise sir” The mechanic sighing in relief as the man turned to leave. It was nearly midnight, and the two needed to stay somewhere for the night as they were exhausted. They stopped at the only motel in town. The neon sign shining the word ‘vacancy’ was just what they were hoping to see. However the clerk desperately tried to turn them away, explaining that there was no room, and half of the rooms were being cleaned. “Can’t you just help us? Please? My son and I need a place to sleep. We are exhausted.” Frank asked, trying to trigger the clerk’s compassion. “Fine, we have one room and you can have it, but only one night.” The clerk gave in, allowing them to stay. Just as the two left the office the clerk frantically got on the phone and began dialing. Frank and Gideon, impressed by the fact the room is clean, didn't care that it wasn’t a fancy or less reputable establishment, they simply need a bed, a shower, and maybe coffee in the morning. The two quickly went to sleep in the pitch blackness of the room, with only the streetlight outside illuminating the curtains. Gideon woke to loud footsteps in the dormant parking lot. He softly placed his feet on the floor and stepped to the window after hearing voices conversing. He was curious, but not afraid, he was well versed in mixed martial arts and felt as though he could fend off anyone with the intent to harm them. Sliding the curtain to the side, Gideon gazed at two figures outside talking. It was hard to tell who they were at first. He cleared his sleepy eyes and went to the door, slightly opening it to get a slight peak at the two. He recognized the mechanic from earlier, who seemed to be talking to the motel manager. The two seemed to be frantic and nervous. Gideon realized something was wrong when the manager pointed to the room they were in. The mechanic then brandished a heavy wrench and knife. Gideon’s eyes grew to the size of golf-balls, he shut the door quietly and stayed low to the floor as he made his way over to the bed his father was sleeping in. “Dad, Dad, you have to wake up!” He spoke softly but intensely, hoping his father would pop up quickly. Frank wiped his eyes and looked at his son with a squinted face, trying to go back to sleep “What did you hear something?” Frank said, slamming his head back to the pillow. “No dad, I mean yes, but.. “ Gideon stammered and became frustrated quickly. “Dad wake the fuck up, two guys are outside and they have weapons” Gideon said, ripping the cover off of his father. “What are you talking about!?” Frank said, stumbling out of the bed. He made his way to the window and saw a man standing in the middle of the parking lot wearing a large hat. For a moment he could swear he was dreaming, but then readjusted his vision to see it was a helmet, similar to a biker’s helmet. “There's a biker out there, but no bike.” he said, looking back from the window to the bed. Clk clk clk, a knock hit the door. Then a second time. The two men scrambled to their clothes and got dressed. They both went toward the door, Gideon stayed near the nightstand. The manager began speaking, “Look sir, we are gonna have to ask you to leave now, we will get in a lot of trouble if anyone finds out you are here.” Frank and Gideon were confused, and flustered. Frank didn’t know how to answer the manager. He decided to open the door slightly kept closed by the latched chain at the top. “I’m real sorry mister but we don't make the rules. You have to leave now before we are put in a position we don’t want to be in.” Said the manager, with the mechanic staying behind him with something heavy in his hands. “Ok, we will leave. We don’t mean any harm just please don’t do anything rash, we are sorry if we have done anything wrong.” Frank pleaded in a raspy voice. Frank shut the door and the two grabbed their things quickly. They came to the door, where the mechanic and the manager were still waiting just outside. Once opened they crossed the doorway and Frank met eye to eye with the manager. “I’m sorry for whatever we have done” Frank spoke to him. “You are the lucky ones. If you didn’t remind my father so much of us, you would be stains on the sheets. Just like anyone that comes through Bliss.” The manager spoke softly, his voice cracking with regret. Frank now looked over to the mechanic, noticing now how similar they looked. “You’ll find your car at the intersection south, well out of town. We couldn’t allow it to be seen here. Go now before the turn of the hour, and protect your son from the sounds on the way out. The two began walking with their luggage, it was around two thirty A.M. when they sat out. The Constance County sheriff’s department found the vehicle at the intersection south of Bliss. It was abandoned and looked to have been that way for several days by the time they found it. The deputy who found the vehicle had many questions, when he asked the sheriff, he sat down for a long talk about the horror of Bliss.