Marie (left) and Lucy (right)
Two friends and college students, newer regulars at Bee's Diner, going there for coffee hang before their classes start.
Present when Bee lashed out at Don for harassing a new customer for reasons they didn't quite know or care about, Marie points out something about the customer Don was talking to. Marie, despite Lucy's objections claiming she has a bad feeling about it, investigates. Lucy making no real effort to stop her, watching from her seat. This encounter ended up escalating and it got violent leaving Lucy wounded and in need of medical intervention.
Their testimony of what happened were different. Marie spinning a tale about a monster with lashing tentacles and a blood curdling screech, claiming she was in danger and acted in self defense, looked for a weapon and happening upon Bee's gun behind the counter, and firing a single shot at the monster.
Lucy's statement was less embellished, and was more of a truthful statement of events. Claiming she tried and failed to stop Marie from bothering that customer. Stating Marie managed to pull the customer out of their seat and onto the floor splashing their coffee in their face making them scream in pain. Curiously, tentacles were also mentioned, but no monster. Going on to claim after Marie shot them, she intervened and made an attempt to help the customer, chastising Marie for her reckless impulsiveness. She then claims something wrapped around her neck and flung her away directly into Marie, discharging the weapon, shooting her through the abdomen. The strange customer running off immediately after.
This whole event left Marie a fearful wreck, refusing to go anywhere near Bee's Diner. Her friendship with Lucy becoming frayed, seeing Lucy as a constant reminder of the events that day, they drifted apart. Officially ending when Marie cut off all contact with Lucy and moved away without telling anyone where she went. Especially not Lucy.
Lucy was left with an insatiable curiosity for who that customer was and where they went, unaware of the significance of the fire that happened later that day. Feeling a strange attachment, she wanted to find them, perhaps to apologize for what her former friend did.
Lucy spent months scouring the internet for local news from nearby towns for anything that sounded like it could be significant.
Coming up with mostly nothing, she expanded the scope of her search, happening on a minor article in a local paper from a small port town in the Maritimes mentioning the sighting of a creature in the sea. The connection being tenuous at best she figured that's as good as it'll get. Lucy prepared to travel to this town to see what she could find there.
If nothing else, at least she could admire the abandoned Lighthouse they had.