Swan Song || The Lost Boys - & The One Who Found Them...

Chapter XIV ~ ᛈ (Perthro) Part II - Uprise

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[ Confession ]

The moon conquered the sky once night began to cloak the lands. The grey clouds of the day had dissolved one by one to reveal an immaculate starlit dome, one that left even me in awe - & I had already experienced my fair share of beautiful night skies.
I had spent the past few hours taking care of all the inevitable necessities, including grocery shopping, cleaning, enduring several work-related phone calls - which was always a delight given how much I was still struggling with the town people's work mentality - & most importantly a visit at the doctor's office. Truth be told I had nearly chosen to push it aside again or at the very least postpone it, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to Dwayne. After all I had made him a promise, & once such a promise was made, nothing & no one could make me break it. Not even my own occasional sense of neglect...

Heaving a sigh I tossed the knife I had used to trim the bucket of white lilies into the sink & placed the delicate flowers in a pelike-shaped vase in the hallway, right in front of the mirror. I peered up to look at my reflection as I straightened my posture again, kind of satisfied with what I was seeing - at least compared to the rather dreadful sight from earlier this morning.
I had slipped into a rose-coloured strapless dress, had braided & pinned up my hair so that neither hair nor any fabric could irritate the now freshly stitched wound on my shoulder. Thanks to a short nap during the afternoon I had regained some of my faint natural blush & did no longer look as pale as a sheet, had even applied some fake lashes & Cleopatra inspired eyeliner just for the fun of it, feeling rather pretty for once in a long time. I barely ever felt pretty, was ridiculously insecure about everything I happened to see in the mirror most of the time, but thankfully even someone like me could have those little moments filled with confidence.

Flashing a quick smile at the person in the mirror I turned to the front door, locking it as many times as the rustic lock allowed it. As ordered by Dwayne I had closed & locked every single window in my house before sunset, had even rolled down the shutters & closed the drapes in most rooms. A strange & admittedly unsettling silence had taken over my house & except for the occasional sound of shutters rattling in the wind not a single noise stirred the air.
Dimming the lights in the hallway I entered the living room where merely a few candles on the table gave the place its shapes & contours, throwing an slightly anxious glance out of the only window on the first floor that wasn't yet covered by thick velvet curtains. From the other side the night's countenance stared back at the, unperturbed & seemingly impenetrable until my eyes began to adjust to the darkness that had befallen the lands.

In the distance I saw the outlines of the mountains, rearing up like the motionless giants they were & pushing their peaks into the sky as if to reach for the stars. High up on the pitch-black firmament I spotted a bright, weakly flickering 'star', & not too far beside it a smaller one; Jupiter & Saturn, both of them outshining all the other stars tonight. A smile crossed my lips as I inched closer to the window & took a seat on the inner windowsill, temple resting against the glass while my eyes clung to the distant yet so familiar lights above.
Perhaps sitting too close to the window wasn't that much of a good idea, but as far as I could see everything looked peaceful & quiet outside, moreover, almost half an hour had passed since nightfall, so Dwayne would be here any second. That was if nothing had interfered with his plans since his departure...

I lowered my gaze in concern when something pale emerging from under the trees drew in my attention, only a couple of steps away from the fence around the backyard yet still not close enough for me to recognize what exactly I was looking at. I blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust even more & bending forward until the tip of my nose poked against the glass; the beige-coloured smudge was still indefinable but without a doubt growing in size & - unless my mind was playing tricks on me - coming closer towards my house.
I held my breath, refusing to avert my eyes for even a second out of fear it could disappear from my sight, but when the to this point alien figurine had finally left the forest & turned its head to the side I gave a sigh of relief, my forehead hitting the window with a soft bonk.