Guardians of the Shadows

1

As gloomy as the town of Vinbrooke is, there is something strangely different about it today. Not many reside in this part of Flanington situated uphill from the Thornbush Trail that leads nowhere but to a dead end up in the mountains. A town inhabiting just about fifty people farming their own vegetables along the terrains of hills cannot really be called a town, or can it be?

As ordinary as it is, this October evening seems like brewing something unusual today. The thunder is growing louder and gaudier with every minute that passes by.

The clouds are ready to wail but the time hasn't come yet. The wind is whirling a storm while there remains silence in every corner. It's almost twilight. Time for supper in the Community Hall all come together at dusk as a unit to bid their day farewell and prepare for the new one. Sharing their waves of laughter and tears of sorrow binds them together to escape their loneliness.

But the Hall which is full of different corners to pray, dine, and teach the town kids is empty today. The roads are wet like always. With the dense forests that surround Vinbrooke almost swallowing it up inside, there is not a single ray of sunshine that can get through.

Instead of smelling like drenched leaves infusing the air with its freshness along with the wet roads complimenting the jungles on its side, it smells of something distinctive. Familiar, yet different.

Death! It smells of death.

Linda calls out in frenzy, "Bruce! It's time."

She knocks on the door but then walks straight into her daughter's room without giving it a second thought.

The room which is always organized and neat is disseminated right now. There are polaroid pictures that seem to have been thrown on the wooden floors of Benson's house.

A big box is kept open on the chair right beside the mirror that almost touches the ceiling. A pile of clothes, crushed lay over the bed. The green walls of the room look almost black because of the little light that is entering from the window.

"Bruce! Why are you still sitting here? It's time for us to go."

Bruce makes no movement. She is sitting on her bed, hands crossed over her legs staring at the grey clouds outside the window. She can hear her mother but does not feel like answering. Exhaustion envelops her in this moment to move or even speak. This is when she notices something strange. A woman. Staring right at her.

She is standing behind a tree across the road and does not look like a townmate. She doesn't look like a tourist either. Her hair is dark red and she is wearing a black trench coat. Bruce wonders if this woman knows Felix and is supposed to be at the funeral. But it's not even a proper funeral. Only a burial at the place where she first found Felix.

"Bruce!" Linda shouts with a weak voice, fighting her tears off.

It breaks her chain of thought as she is looking at Linda angrily now.

She gets up and slips into her boots without saying a word. She is wearing a black plunged neck dress, very similar to what Linda has donned.

"Good! Clean up your face and meet me downstairs in two," says Linda while she turns around and walks away not wanting to deal with her grieving daughter.

The last thing Bruce gives a shit about right now is how she looks.

She looks out of the window but the woman is gone. This is the least of her concerns right now. Linda is calling out her name again to leave. Unknowingly, she steps on one of the polaroid pictures. There she was! Her beautiful black cat Felix. It is a picture from the summer six years ago when she had first found Felix roaming around scared in the forests of Vinbrooke, a week after her dad went missing. Felix was as lost and afraid as Bruce was.