The clock, with its bright searing green text, read 2:29 exactly. Regina yawned, her eyes felt so heavy, and her body weak with sleep deprivation. But it was hard to find sleep when something eerie lurked just a few feet from your house.
Regina shivered, watching the beings lope down the hillside. "How," she paused trying to find the right word, "unsettling." She squinted, trying to get a better view. "I don't like them."
"I don't know, I think that they're kind of cute." Snow shrugged. Regina almost regretted inviting her over. But she was one of the select few, who she could talk to about her fears without feeling embarrassed.
"You think everything is cute." Regina whispered harshly—it was irrational, she knew, they were inside and out of earshot after all. "I think that they're uncanny." Frankly she had no clue what could possibly incline Snow to think that they were anything but. They were tall, sheet white, and slender, making their slow crawl on two spindly legs. "They don't even have arms." Her voice came out much higher, breathier, and more fearful than she had intended.
"Exactly, they can't hurt us." Snow chirped.
"Oh, I'm sure they can find a way." Regina grumbled. "Next time I see something creepy in my backyard, remind me to call Emma instead." She peered back out the window. "Oh my—! Snow get down! It noticed us." She quickly pushed Snow's head down below the window pane.
"I think we should go say hello." Snow smiled.
Regina silently thanked the powers above that she had kept the lights out, the darkness hid the terror-coaxed tears from Snow. She quickly wiped them away and regained her composure. On all fours, she led Snow away from the living room window. "Perhaps we should go upstairs."
"Upstairs?" Snow tilted her head.
"Yes, if they get inside we'll have more time…"
"You have magic, I'm pretty sure that, even if they do somehow get past all of your invisible barricades and bear traps, we'll make it out fine." Snow shrugged.
Regina bit her lip and with butterflies whirling in her stomach, stole another glance out the window. She quickly dropped back down. "Snow they're. Right There." Her voice now faltered on a near squeak emphasizing every word and pointing at the window with each. "I think they're looking in. Do they even have eyes?"
Snow poked her head up. "Yup. No noses or mouths though."
"I don't understand." Regina muttered to herself. "In the research I've done, they said that these things have only been sighed in California. What are they doing here in Maine?" She had Snow by the shoulders, shaking her slightly. "They are on the wrong coast."
"Maybe they came to visit you." Snow chuckled.
"This is not funny Mary Margret." Regina hissed.
"Sorry." Said Snow, still grinning. "Have you considered that someone is just messing with you?"
"Who wakes up at 2:30 every night, just to disrupt someone else's sleeping patterns?" Regina muttered. Even as she said it, she knew that she could name a few. There were loads of idiots prowling Storybrooke. Jefferson, Gold, and the dwarves were at the top of the list. And Blue, there was just something shady about that creature. But something about these creatures made absolutely certain that they were the real deal.
"So what do you want to do? Are we just going to hide under your table all night?"
Regina bit her lip. "I think that that's the best idea. Don't let them see us." She looked up again to see that the Nightcrawler had stepped away from the window and resumed its stroll across her yard.
"Say Regina, exactly how much research did you do? Because right here," she held up her phone, "I'm reading that these things are here to help restore peace and harmony between man and nature."
"I am very harmonious with nature. I grew an apple tree once." Regina boasted.
"Maybe that's why they like you."
"Like me? They haunt my dreams at night." Slowly regained some of her former bravery and made her way back to the window. The creatures were very nearly out of her yard now, just two faint white patches near the woodsier part of her yard. If she didn't know any better, she'd have mistaken them for pieces of cloth blowing in the nighttime wind.
"Did you manage to get any pictures of them?" Snow asked.
"I have security tapes. The first time I saw them I thought that they were trying to rob me, so I set up a few cameras." Regina shuddered, vividly recalling the moment when she had first reviewed the footage. It was the spookiest thing. One of them had leaned right into the camera and she was quite clearly able to make out what she now realized were its eyes. "It just lingered there, staring into my camera."
"But it never tried to get into your house?"
"Well, no…" Regina trailed off. It was true, come to think of it. After it looked into the camera that was stationed by the door it had simply stalked off to rejoin its companions near the shrubbery.
"I think it was just curious, wouldn't you say?" Snow said. "I mean think about it; they've been coming around all of this time. They haven't even touched any of your things. And if they have, they didn't move it or break it."
"That sounds very…optimistic." Regina replied, taking a stance leaning against the window with her arms folded over her chest and her gaze never leaving the Nightcrawlers.
"Okay, how about this? When they were at the window, all they did was look inside. They didn't pound on the window or try to get it open. If they really wanted in, I'm sure they'd still be at it right now. I think that they just want to know about us." Snow smiled at Regina. "Not just us!" She added quickly when she noticed another chill creep over the woman. "People in general."
"Right, and I never tried to kill you, I just wanted to see if poison apples tasted good."
"How about this, next time they come around, you see what they want instead of hiding from them. Maybe you'll have a pair of new friends to help you protect your apple tree." Snow suggested and in a much cheerier tone that Regina thought was appropriate.
"If I do, you're coming with me." Regina mumbled.
Snow smirked walked over to the door and tugged it open. Gesturing politely with her arm, she said, "after you, your majesty."