And then he was off. Into the woods silently, a predator if she'd ever seen one.
She placed a hand to her galloping heart and shook her head at this moment that would run on repeat in her mind.
"Jeeze," she whispered to no one. But then the bird made itself seen and she frowned. "Are you friends with him? What was that?" she asked pointing to where the vampire had left moments ago. "What the hell was that?"
When the creature didn't answer she sighed. "Let's go then. I won't sleep at all," she complained as she walked. She walkedthrough the woods, looking over her shoulder every so often fearing to see another glimpse of him.
Hoping to.
She gave the moon her sighed anxiety, the uncertainty of her feelings digging into her.
And then she was walking up the cracked sidewalk of her apartment, the thought of trying to find sleep in her lonely bed a dreadful thought.
But as she lay down, her eyes pinned to the ceiling fan lazily circling above her against the popcorn ceiling, she touched the skin of her neck with a featherlight touch and drifted off to sleep as her mouth without permission lifted in a dreamy smile.
10. Old Habits
Aweek and a half of avoiding going into town had proven to be more difficult than Tilly anticipated. It meant no Black Cat coffee runs for her favorite honey lavender latte. It meant no stops at The Lazy Snail for brunch or Michelle's for a croissant.
She didn't eat croissants regularly, but when she was suddenly faced with the idea of not having one, all she smelled was buttery, flaky pastry.
It was easy enough to wave off why she had been so busy. She had taken on the monster that was The Crescent Inn, learning its ins and outs, trying to find ways to update systems and slowly upgrading the parts that needed fixing.
She decided to start with the wallpaper in the front drawing room. Down came the yellowed posey wallpaper that gave her a migraine, which took four days alone, and up went a lovely blue and cream floral wallpaper that was less busy and brought the room into this decade. The couches were another subjectaltogether, but furniture would be the last thing on her list to replace.
The distraction had been exactly what she needed.
The first day with tools in unsure hands and eyes taking in a project she wasn't sure how to pull off, she pulled a particularly rough section of aged wallpaper from a corner that finally gave and released not only the wallpaper but also a cloud of sparkly dust and a slip of paper.
It's not their power to wield.
The script was small and curling. She frowned sitting back on her heels and looking up over the aged floral wall.
At lunchtime, she made sure she had food in the refrigerator for the cleaner and made a chicken salad sandwich for herself as she walked around the inn slowly, thinking. When the Grandmother clock chimed its lovely way, she walked over and peered into the face to see the black galaxy behind what looked like a wobbling tower. It was a great Gothic structure. It brought Chief Landry's castle-like house to the front of her mind, and she rolled her eyes.
It was reminiscent of the old deck of tarot that Crystal was never without.
Upheaval and change.
The words whispered through her mind. She frowned and looked back at the picture. There was a feeling of being tilted, of walking into a room only to look around, forgetting why she'd made the journey.
She wasn't sure how long she stared at the clock that didn't keep time. Her index and middle finger felt frayed, and when she shook herself out of her daze, she stilled the fingers from tapping her thigh. The suddenness of her mind going blank for a time made her feel out of sorts, and when she looked back at the clock with its dark, ominous tower, she took a deep breath as thewordsupheavalandchangecontinued to chant in an unfamiliar voice only for her.
She took a picture of it and sent it to Crystal.
A few hours later, she found another piece of paper held behind a wood panel.
In the woods, it is simple
to walk the old world
and justly bow to oneself
"The house is a damn poet," she muttered. This one she folded up to join the other in her back pocket.
But while her hands kept busy, her mind couldn't help its constant pivot to a certain chief who had turned her world more than a little sideways in the forest on the night of Midsummer.
Her life was already sideways enough as it was.
