Our Newfound Paradise

Middle of the Afternoon

When Alastor finally felt up to it, he got to his feet and slowly started walking down the stairs. He had taken a nap between now and the time he talked to Mercy so it was about mid-afternoon. 

When he finally got down to the bottom of the stairs, he took in every detail of the first floor. It was a simple layout. There was a brick fireplace in the middle of the house. There were two chairs and a long couch dominating most of the room. On the far right, there was a table and a kitchen set up. There was clearly running water since Mercy was cleaning off some dishes underneath a sink. 

Grace was sitting on the couch, absentmindedly reading a book. She made eye contact with him and Alastor got a good look at her deep violet eyes. There was a cold, emotionless to them, but they were also oddly entrancing. 

"I can see you two are already gettin' along," Mercy stated when she took another look at Grace and Alastor. Alastor coughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said. Mercy just smirked. 

"Grace, why don't ya show Alastor around a bit, give him a feel for what the forest's like?" Mercy suggested. "Sure thing," Grace said. 

Before he knew it, Alastor was standing in front of the house. From a distance, it was just a really old cabin with a flimsy foundation. Hard to believe the building was even still standing. 

"So, what do you wanna do?" Grace asked. She folded her hands behind her back and leaned in closer to him. "We pretty much have the whole day to ourselves." 

Alastor had no clue where to even begin. What do you do when you have that much time on your hands?

"How did you find me?" Alastor asked. Grace's face fell. She realized this conversation was going to take a serious tone so she immediately got serious. "Mercy found you last night covered in cuts and bruises," she said. "We didn't know what to do at first, but there are some really good herbal medicines we know and we managed to stop the bleeding. As for why you were like that, I was hoping you could shed some light on the situation." She stared at him expectantly. 

Alastor put a hand to his head. He had flashbacks of the night before but all he could remember was the searing pain covering every inch of his body. 

"I really don't want to talk about it," Alastor stated. "Alright, I can understand that," Grace conceded. She still seemed a little disappointed that he wouldn't open up to her. 

They reached a part of the path that branched off into four different sections. Alastor stopped here. "Which way is the nearest town?" he asked. 

"If you head East," Grace said, pointing to her left, "You'll reach the town of Elbrook after five or six hours of walking." She pointed straight ahead. "If you go South, the towns of Rindhallow and Edelwood are about twelve hours away on foot. If you go West, you won't find anything other than barren woodlands."

Five hours of walking at the very least, Alastor thought. I could do it but I'd be exhausted afterward. 

"What about North? Is there anything up there?" Alastor asked. "Nothing good at least," Grace said, "It's the deepest part of the forest, and there are some unpleasant things lurking up there. I advise against it."

Everything went quiet. The only other sounds were the birds chirping in the distance along with the leaves rustling in the wind. 

"What are the towns like?" Alastor wondered. "Are the people at least friendly?" 

Grace shrugged. "I have no clue, I've never been. Besides, we got everything we need right here."

Alastor did not really argue with her. He was about to ask something else when he noticed a strange set of markings on the tree in front of him. Closer inspection revealed they were a set of crudely drawn numbers. 0569. 

I wonder what these are for? Alastor thought. "What are you looking at?" Grace asked. Alastor shrugged. "It's nothing," Alastor said with a shrug. "Just thought I saw a bug."

There was a slight pause and Grace went quiet. She might have noticed the numbers but it was hard to tell. 

Grace suddenly snapped her fingers together. Inspiration had struck. "You know, there's something I really out to show you," she said. She led him to a section of the woods that opened up into a small clearing. A crystal clear pond dominated the middle of it. You could see the sky reflected in its glassy surface. 

Alastor had to admit, it was a picturesque view. It was like something out of a painting. The water was a perfect blue, the autumn leaves were a mixture of gold and brown, and the pure white clouds stood in stark contrast to the azure sky behind it. 

Grace picked up a flat stone, a slight smile on her face. "Watch this," she announced dramatically. She threw the stone forward with incredible speed and precision. It skipped at least a dozen times before sinking in the center of the pool of water. Alastor was impressed. 

"Wow, that was a good throw," he said. "Thanks," Grace replied quietly. Alastor picked up a rock, trying to mimic the stance she had taken. He threw the stone forward only to see it sink immediately into the lake. His eyebrow twitched as he stood there in disbelief. 

Grace let out a light giggle. "Nice throw," she teased. She sat down by the sat by the edge of the water, staring at it with an almost mesmerized look on her face. 

Alastor took off his socks and his shoes, taking a step towards the water. "What are you doing?" Grace asked, with a tone of mild amusement in her voice. "Just wanna test the water, I guess. Is it dirty or something?" Alastor inquired. 

"Have you ever been to the ocean before?" Grace asked him. "No, have you?" Alastor replied. "Possibly," Grace said mysteriously. Alastor gave her a strange look. Grace continued. "This whole pond is filled to the brim with salt-water." 

"How did it get here?" 

Grace stared at the water with that same soft, dazed look he had seen in her eyes earlier. "I don't know," she conceded. "I like to imagine it's a relic of an older time. A piece of the ocean that was left behind when the waters receded." 

Alastor was about ready to put his foot in the water when Grace's voice cut in again. "Have you ever been fishing before?" she asked. Alastor's foot stopped right before it disturbed the glossy surface of the water. "No, never done that," Alastor muttered. He had never done much of anything, to be honest. "There are some interesting fish at the bottom of this pond, very interesting, maybe I could show you how to catch them," Grace suggested. 

Sounds easy enough, they're just some dumb fish after all, Alastor thought.

That was when he heard a shuffling noise in the woods behind him. "Did you hear that?" Alastor asked. Grace perked up her head but said nothing. 

The noise followed once again, along with the sound of heavy breathing. Alastor took a few steps towards the edge of the forest where he heard the sound coming from. "Hello?" he called out into the woods. 

He felt his heart skip a beat when he noticed a dark silhouette hiding behind a tree. It was impossible to see the figure's eyes from underneath their hair. The outline of a knife was visible in their right hand. Alastor sucked in a sharp breath.

The figure stared at him silently without a word, still nothing more than a shadow behind the trees. 

Grace grabbed Alastor's wrist. He stared at her with surprise. "We should go," she told him. Alastor couldn't agree more. The two of them started to go in the other direction. The figure vanished from into the darkness again, but Alastor could feel their eyes burning into him. They were still there. Lurking somewhere in the shadows.