The Calm before the Storm

At first calmly and then in a rush, in a little earlier than the dawn of night, the clouds had done nothing less than weep onto the cemented floors of the city that everyone has called Derry. Even if the raging winds sounded quite awful and the rain was more than abundant—Almost too generous in quantity, in fact-, all seemed so peaceful still, but one couldn't help but shiver upon seeing the lifeless roads and houses during the seemingly restless storm. Everything felt dead, completely dead, like if abandoned villagers walked out of their homes since a long while.

Despite it all, it somehow still felt comforting to hear the clouds' tears drop all at once, even if they sounded like maniacs racing to see who's first to crash on the ground. The following storm was very unusual, even to those who are used to seeing them in Derry. It was like a cocktail of emotions extended in the shape of weather, down to the way the trees brushed violently against each other, or the way the extending puddles of water would solemnly travel in soil, drains, and in some cases, houses. Even rocks and stones seemed to express fury, and the way they would roll around from the excited wind was clear evidence of so.

The following gentle misty smell was rather faint, its characteristic moon dew accent gently caressing the vegetation and man-made roads… It felt refreshing, almost energizing, to feel its presence, but the amount of wind and rain was overshadowing all the other aspects that we called beauty of nature, and the rain's scent was one of them.

Just as it seems like there's nothing new happening in the sky, every now and then, lights would flare from the clouds. A rocket of energy would aggressively grow in the blankets of mist, before suddenly deciding to lash out all the way to the ground. Its raw power seemed important enough to cut trees in half, and destroy so many lives all in one stroke, but it was so beautiful to see Mother Nature unleash her powers in such a captivating way. In fact, it was likeable enough to gain a little audience…

Children that would dare to stay up late would count the amount if time it takes before they could hear the powerful characteristic noise of the beam of light—It usualy lasts around five to ten seconds, but they felt long and boring before the surprise of the crackling noise would make them forget the boredom they suffered. One would be so curious and amazed by the beauty of the golden-white lights that they would try to touch it, but thankfully, it was usually very far from Derry, so there's no sign of danger for now. The more time, the further the thunder was from the captivated faces of the kids, thus the safer they were… right?

Despite the almost alarming number of spectators that were enthusiastic about watching in anticipation for the next thunder, there were always a few kids that found no interest in seeing nature take its seemingly ruthless course, and Ebony was one of them. Instead of watching the event with glee, they just rested in their bed, holding their estranged teddy bear tightly to their chest. They slept as peacefully as a child ever could've done so—In fact, they were in such a deep slumber that not even the heavy rain woke them up, an incredible feat for such a light sleeper. They were breathing calmly and slowly, and appeared to be oh so relaxed.

That is, until the next thunderbolt was louder than it had been throughout the entire night.

Ebony woke up in a flash, but didn't appear surprised, but only slightly peeved. They rub their eyes with one hand, and took a deep breath before lazily kicking away their thick bed sheets. They jump out of the cozy furniture, immediately feeling the freezing temperature once stepping their bare foot onto the floor of their large room, and felt a chill run down their spine. Despite it all, they wanted to know what woke them up. Peeking their face out of their windowsill, being very careful not to disturb their still young and fragile succulents and aloe plants, Ebony watched attentively to see what could be the cause of their rather sudden way to wake up.

They looked and looked, and nothing dared show its face, since—Wait, there's someone there…

A little boy in a yellow raincoat can be seen getting their round face into the sewer drain. They couldn't be- It's Georgie, their best friend! Why is he out so late? How is Bill letting him? They are both very close in age, and it's not fair they should sleep earlier than Georgie. Ebony's not a grown up yet, but they should at least be allowed to stay up a little late so they could play with him! Just as Ebony was about to open their window to shout at Georgie to wait for them, they notice that there was something in the sewer drain, which made them go at a full stop.

With an attentive stare, Ebony could also determine that some sort of creature was inside it. Maybe it's an animal? No, it looks too much like a person… Maybe a monster? Not likely. Whatever was in there has a human-like shaped face, and was thought to be light colored, but since it was very dark in the drain, they looked darker gray. They were also holding what Ebony assumed to be a paper-made boat with one of their silky white hands. They believed that Georgie might have just dropped his boat into the drain, but why would he want to take stuff from a stranger? Why is he peeking and talking to a creature? Or yet, why doesn't he just walk away and make himself a new boat? Stranger danger, Georgie! Come on!

''What's he doin'? Why's he doin' this?'' Ebony whispered, unaware that the fellow kid and sewer monster couldn't hear them.

Just as they are about to turn around to meet up with the boy to tell him that it's not worth it to chat with a stranger for a paper boat, they remember their father is still awake, and that they are supposed to be in bed. There's no way they could sneak trough without getting caught or punished… Begrudgingly, Ebony realises that there's nothing they can do, and decide to just walk back to their bed before grabbing their teddy bear once more to sleep in the warm sheets. It took no time before the red-haired kid finally closed its eyes to get into the deep subconscious state once again.

Little did they know about what would happen to the sweet little Georgie… Ebony was completely unaware that their best friend would be the victim of the first try of the tasty, tasty, beautiful fear.

It was just the beginning, after all.