The October Malice ༄ (gxg)

sixteen, angel

The lovers' night together lasted until the early hours.

After their endeavors, they slept merely a half hour before Opal slipped out of the woman's bed. It was a Sunday night, after all, and the girl would be seeing the woman again bright and early the next morning at class.

So she stowed herself away, putting on her clothes as quietly as she could since she knew Claire probably had a busy schedule of teaching classes the next day and needed her rest. It was a heartwarming thing to tiptoe quietly around someone who was sleeping, to be so caring of their slumber. Opal felt the intense need to take care of the woman in any way that she possibly could, so she started out with not disturbing her as she quietly slipped through the woman's front door with her wrinkled clothes and untied shoes.

It was somewhere between 2 and 3 A.M., and the girl rushed home not only to be home before her mother got back from her night shift but so that she could hopefully avoid running into any of the police who were nocturnally patrolling the small town that had a set curfew restricting anyone being out after dark. They were serious about it, too—the previous evening Opal had arrived to Claire's just at dusk and had a policeman pull up next to her and tell her to make sure she got where she was going before dark. Sam's fear/hatred of cops had infected Opal because she had only nodded at him nervously and walked faster.

But she wouldn't think of Sam, not even as she jogged past her house that was only a few blocks away from Claire's. She watched the house as she jogged past, seeing her mom's car in the driveway. Their yellow porchlight was on—Sam's mother kept it on all throughout night after what had happened with that evil cop. At the left corner of the house was the window of Sam's mother's room which was glowing a soft yellow light from it, the only lit window throughout the otherwise dark house. She always kept the lights on.

Opal turned her head away and continued jogging as she thought about things. Deliverance was so quiet at night, so still. The smell of fear was prominent in the air. Everyone was on edge; everyone was locking themselves away from being the fifth victim of the local murders. And it made Opal a little nervous, too, so she picked up her pace once she made it to Teardrop Bridge. She was fortunate to have not seen any mysterious characters sitting on the bench wearing black trench coats and fedoras.

It was somewhat peaceful as she slowed her pace upon getting to the rural area of town where cops were less likely to roam. The forest, unlike the city yonder, was not asleep or hiding. She could hear the sound of an owl somewhere amongst the trees, the crunch of leaves under rodential feet, the snaps of twigs under feet belonging to larger animals.

She could still taste Claire on her tongue, still see that grin on her dark lips, and still feel her heavenly touch. Claire Wilkes was an angel sent from above, and all Opal could think about as she skipped home was running away with that angel to a far away land over those mountain ranges where they could be happy and free.

༄

The skip in her step persisted even as she dragged herself out of bed only a few hours after having laid down in it. She was tired and exhausted, but no amount of fatigue could infringe on her elation bright and dazzling in her heart. There were lightbulbs in her eyes, glitter in her aura, and she couldn't wait to get to the community college for her first period class with none other than Claire Wilkes, the apple of her eye.

Her backpack straps folded under the grip of her fists as she began the journey to class, walking twice as fast as she usually did. The sun shone through the sparse clouds that day, and even though it had grown even colder the past few days, Opal was warm all over and considered taking off her sweater that was making her sweat.