The bright morning sun above the town rests on the roofs of the tiny houses. Their shadows resting on the paths and the tall trees scattered in the town created some shade for the narrow path that broke into the houses. I didn’t notice the old woman return from the farm last night. When I open my eyes, Tony is pacing the hut with one hands wrapped around his chin and the other crossed below its elbow I stretch my hands from the floor mat humming and turning on the bed till I hear the satisfying sound of my joints snapping back to form – I will never get used to this. My sleepy eyes rest on him and I frown a little “what are you so agitated about?” He stops pacing hurrying toward me and sits on the edge of the mat “Mrs. storyteller didn't come back last night” my lids burst open I know I didn’t hear her come in but I still did not expect her to not be home all night, in the normal circumstance I wouldn’t be so intrusive but here there are a lot of things to worry about - like the s

Dragging a breath into my lungs I muster the courage I needed. “Who are you?” I manage a question, trying to swallow the air that had clogged my throat quietly enough and blinking away the last bit of fear in my eyes “None of your business, why are you following me?” His young not so deep voice stirs up confidence in me, the first tick of safety; he is probably a few years older, if not a year. but then asking a question after a sly answer is just the game I am ready to play “none of your business, why did you kill that woman?” well, confidence – yes but I still need to caution my curiosity, apart from letting him know I saw him even though I feel he already knows, I am still indicating interest in it. The stomach-ripping silence between us sweeps me into a deep level of discomfort that I couldn’t keep my hands still so he doesn’t see they were trembling “I arrived in this town a few days ago and I met some friends, we are looking for a way to save the village from the haunting sha

Thelma is pacing from one end of her room to the other end. one hand is crossed above her stomach and the other wiggling with her chin. Rose is covered in a blanket on her bed shaking from sobs and Olivia is sitting by her side with clothes wounded around her wrist and another on her other arm, she is tapping Rose on her shoulder Tony is sitting on the side table with his face buried in his arms. He hums a breath every long minute and I seem to be the only one with the slightest calm and that is why I should start acting because my sanity is a slip away from going down the drain “We need to gather the villagers” I say, grabbing their attention. my words seem to upset everyone because they all look at me like I am the very shadows and they want to gut me out “They wouldn’t even talk to us and now you want them to meet with you” Tony protested “Normally, only the younger ones were the target but for some reason, they are involving the old ones in it too. It must have stirred fear in

The dark night is immediately upon us. It might sound stupid but we left the hotel without coal, the grand reason was that we didn’t want the shadows to notice us before we attacked. The gust can be strong enough to rip us off our balance or slam us somewhere. But the problem was if they traveled in darkness, wouldn’t it be beneficial to them that we are in darkness? The sudden wild breeze answers my question and I panic “Don’t you think we are playing right into their hands by walking in darkness?” I ask “Who had the stupid idea and how the hell did we agree to it?” Tony yells out the very words I kept swallowing. Rose clears her throat and I breathe aloud. Why are we letting Rose play us into our own death? “Let us get fire, that hut is the closest” Thelma suggests, she had already moved towards the hut without waiting for our response “I only said we shouldn’t move with it because I noticed that the shadows travel with darkness and if we carry light around, they would avoid us”

“Bella, I need to show you something… both of you” Willow gestures at Tony “that’s the only way you guys will trust what I am saying” “he has a point, since we don’t believe him, he might as well prove himself right” I say The villagers have settled in the reception, so we went back upstairs this time to my room so we can have a private time to discuss if we should trust Willow or not “you said you saw him kill that woman Bella” Tony says – shit.. I did say that indirectly since I was too panicked to explain better when we met again and that has led to this misunderstanding Truth is, I did felt he killed her earlier but after meeting him in the hut and thinking about it, he wasn’t with anything that he could have given her. She just convulsed out of the blue and that is why I wanted him on my side. But I hadn’t updated Tony yet “yes I did, but I didn’t really see him give her something that day. I was just confused because she looked healthy right before” I say almost stammering