Life is Stranger

The Listener

The steel-grey eyes watched as Chloe's tall, slender form rippled out of sight.

A voice hissed out into the darkness. "What the hell just happened? She just fucking vanished! Where the fuck did she go?"

The hooded figure with the grey eyes replied. "She did not go anywhere. She remains here. I can sense her presence."

"What the fuck? How?"

"There is a concealed place here. This is a problem, but it was not entirely unexpected."

"So you got this, right? You can find a way in? Is the other one already there?"

"No. She is not."

"Is Elanor in there?"

"Yes. She is always here. And so is he."

"So how do we get in there? How can we follow her?"

"We do not."

"Why the fuck-ever-not?"

"Because we cannot enter. It is not allowed. There are some places where even I cannot go."

"So how do we get to her? What are we going to do?"

"We shall wait. Time matters not."

"I'm sick of all this goddamn waiting. Why don't we just go and get the other one? Then she'll have to come out."

"Have you forgotten about the Lady of the Moon? I barely managed to elude her - it took everything that I possessed to facilitate our escape. And now that she is fully aware of my presence here, our task is going to prove to be considerably more difficult. But I must succeed. I have never failed before. I do not fail. I cannot permit anyone or anything to stop me. I cannot allow them to continue. They cannot be. Their light is to be extinguished. They must end."

"What happens if we fail?"

"I do not fail."

"But, just, speaking hypothetically, what if you do?"

"I do not know the answer to that question. As I stated previously, I have never failed. The balance must be maintained."

"Balance? Balance of what?"

"Everything."

"If you say so. Whatever. You know, you're going to have to stop talking that way if you want to blend in around here. People may not notice the eyes so much but they'll notice that for sure – you don't talk like that."

"I am aware of this."

"'I know' or 'got it' would have been better than that crap you just came out with. Or even just 'okay'. You seriously need to pract..."

The cowled figure suddenly held up one hand. "Be still."

"What? What's happening?"

"Be silent. I am listening."

"Listening? Listening to what?"

"Undulations. Do not speak." The grey eyes leaned to one side as their owner angled their head, as if straining to hear a distant sound. "It is done. This is most unfortunate."

"What is? What's going on?"

"The butterfly - she has relocated."

"Where to? Where's she gone?"

"Nowhere. She is still here."

"What the fuck? You're not making any goddamn sense. Have you lost the plot completely? Stop talking in goddamn riddles and speak normally, for fuck's sake!"

"She has not relocated herself in space. She has relocated herself in time. This is a problem. I did not foresee this eventuality. This has never happened before."

"Fucking seriously! Quit it with the old-fashioned Mr Spock bullshit already!"

"Be still once again. The other one approaches."

The two shadows looked on in silence as Max emerged through the trees and paused to look around. She fiddled with the bag hanging from her shoulder, walked forwards and rippled away into the cool night air.

"So what now?"

"We must leave. Without delay. Selene is near. She will watch over the doe closely now."

"Because of earlier today?"

"Yes. Come. Immediately."

The silver points of light were extinguished as the grey eyes receded into the shadows of the undergrowth.