Shadow Trails (ONC 2021)

Part Two

For three days, a statue of an eye had been the talk of the town. Nobody knows where it comes from but it seems to change location every few hours. People assumed it was a prank by the local kids, perhaps it was some political statement and they changed its location to avoid confiscation. But even the kids don't know anything when asked about it. Just when the townspeople was reaching a public consensus that would remove and ban the statue from public places, it disappeared without a trace. When Sassa came home, she found the statue at their doorstep. It stared up at her as she fumbled with the lock of the gate, two heavy grocery bags in each hand.

"Don't suppose you've got built-in arms to help me?" Sassa asked it. The statue didn't even blink. She sighed. After much struggle, she finally unhooked the lock and the gate swung open. She stepped inside and closed the gate with her foot. The statue was only two feet tall and she easily stepped over it to the front door. It had been left ajar and she shouldered it open as she called out to her brother.

A few seconds later, a head peeked from down the hallway. "Oh you're back!"

"Yeah and I could use a little help" Sassa said as she wobbled inside. She had expected him to complain so it was a pleasant surprise to see him make his way to her. She smiled in relief and lifted one arm of bags for him to take. But he passed her without a glance and bent down to pick up the eye statue on the doorstep.

"Just in time too. I was worried it lost its way and I'd have to go looking for it" Yano was grinning ear to ear. Sassa gave him a baleful stare. His smile faltered slightly, "What?"

"Hold out your arm" she said. Yano complied and Sassa passed all four bags to him. He groaned as he awkwardly tipped over at the sudden weight. "Those go in the kitchen" she said, taking the statue from him and bringing it into the living room. She heard a grunt in reply.

The statue was lighter than she expected. It was rectangular in shape and made of dark material that blended well into the night. It was the orb that took up the middle that was concerning, a glowing orange red disk with a slit pupil that seemed to follow the slightest movement.

"Did you have to make this so creepy?" She asked her brother.

"It's supposed to look like that. It's modeled after the eye of Sauron." Yano's voice called out from the kitchen. Sassa could hear him rummaging through the grocery bags. She placed the statue on his desk. It was littered with sketches of his inventions and the books he was using as reference were in a neat stack on top of it. True enough, among the books was the Lord of the Rings series.

He strolled back into the room, a bag of chips now in his hands. There was a ripping sound as the bag tore open andfollowed by a crunching as Yano popped a chip in his mouth.

"What you were supposed to do is make it inconspicuous like Dad said. This is not inconspicuous."

"It's better than inconspicuous." He says as he chewed. "It's cool" .

"I think you missed the point."

"And you missed a call" he gestured to her phone on the coffee table which she had forgotten when she went to the grocery.

"From who?" she felt a sight rush at his words. She went over and grabbed her phone, quickly checking the caller ID. She felt a sinking feeling settle in her stomach as she saw it was from the orphanage. Sassa checked if she had unread messages. There was none.

She was well aware of Yano watching her. It amused him to try to read her mind through her expressions. In many ways, he can be quite perceptive so letting him watch her too long would eventually lead him to the right answer. She beat him to it.