Chapter 7
Taptaptap
Jenny blinked her eyes open it the darkness.
Tap tap tap
She could hear the rain, it seemed so much louder here, all around her, closer. Loud rhythmic droplets falling all over the farm. There, she heard the water hitting something empty and plastic. Here the wet sound of the rain pooling off of the porch roof. The sound of rain hitting every leaf on the trees, Shhhhhhhhhh . . . .
Was that what woke her? She pulled the blankets closer to herself, hand searching for Tibbs, but he was not with her. Her heart felt heavy. She listened for the sound of her parents breathing over the sound of the rain and the whistle of the wind.
There. She heard them. They still sounded asleep. Jenny closed her eyes. In the darkness, her other senses seemed stronger. She could smell the wet earth. There was a breeze coming from somewhere, like a cold hand stroking across her cheek and ruffling her hair . . . She opened her eyes again.
Something crashed outside. Jenny sat up with a gasp. The wind didn't sound nearly strong enough to start knocking things over . . . She started to push her covers off
"Chnny."
Someone had hissed her name.
"Mum?" she whispered.
"Schh!" It came from the bed. Her eyes were adjusting, though her hearing was getting worse, what with the blood rushing through her ears. It was under the bed. She was frightened.
"Who's there?"
She crawled towards the bed and saw eyes, shining green.
"Schh!" spat Tibbs.
Jenny breathed out in relief.
"Tibbs, you scared me."
"Mmmmrrowrr . . ."He didn't sound friendly. "Sch!"
But Jenny noticed he was staring at something behind her. The hair stood up on the back of her neck. From where she was laying, she slowly, jerkily, turned her head to look at the window by the door.
The rain was lit by moonlight, where she could see it running down from the porch roof. She stared, and stared. Was there something there? Or was it the cat's imagination?
And then she saw it. Her breathing went haywire. There was someone standing in the rain, just beyond the porch.
"Mum." She whispered the word as quietly as she could. There came a bang from behind the house. And she jumped.
"Shhhh," said Tibbs. She half wanted to crawl under the bed with him. "Schtay schtill. Schh."
Stay still. That was quite clear. Jenny didn't question it. Eyes glued to the tall, black silhouette outside. It was as dark at the night sky, darker. Tall and willowy, like a young tree. Her eyes strained, the darkness seemed to move and melt and form new shapes, but the silhouette remained.
'Can it see me too?'
"Ohhhh no . . ." the tears spilled out of her watering eyes. The shadowy creature stepped into the porch. It was too tall to stand at its full height, so it bent its body, folding it's unnaturally bent limbs to press its face against the window. White eyes. It opened its mouth and breathed against the window. White teeth, like wolf.
There came a terrible rumbling growl from behind Jenny and she jumped up, with a scream. Her parents startled awake. Jenny was hysterical. The growl had been Newton, but Jenny was beside herself now.
"Yahhh!" She screamed, throwing anything she could hold at the window. Tibbs came out from under the bed, spitting mad, back arched. His glowing eyes seemed to almost pop out of his head. "MmmmMMMRRRRRRUH!" He howled.
Newton was howling now.
Her dad was on his feet now, in his pants, "What?!"
Jenny was at the window. She pointed, "There's something out there!" But the creature on the porch was gone. In full fight or flight mode, she grabbed the axe leaning by the door and ran out into the rain, barefoot. She leapt the steps and landed on the cold wet earth.
It was cold. And quiet. And dark. Jenny turned and turned, frightened to put her back to the monster. "Where are you?!"
It was a strange feeling, she was so afraid, yet she felt like she had to fight.
"Jenny!" she heard her mother wail.
"Wait here!" her father came running down the steps. "Jenny, what is it?!"
"Dad, stay there! There's something out here!"
Newton was yapping, struggling in her mother's arms.
"Jenny!" cried her father, trying to grab her, "Go inside-"
There came another crash, and she saw a dark shape hurtle off towards the path at the top of the farm.
"Get it, Jenny!"
Jenny started off after it, with a scream. Her father grabbed her arm and shook her, "Jenny stop. STOP!"
Jenny stopped and stood in the cold rain. She heard a very human scream and saw Tibbs run by, tail fluffed.
"Tibbs!" She called, and he stopped ears flat. With hesitation, he ran back to the house and darted inside.
Her whole body trembled, with what she couldn't say.
"Jenny," she heard her mother quiet voice from the porch, "Come inside."
"Quickly," said her father.
They climbed the porch. "You first," said Jenny, sternly staring into the night.
Her father shoved her in first, "Get in there!"
Jenny yelped and staggered, almost stepping on Tibbs, who quickly hid under the bed again with a snarl. She heard the lock click. With his back to the door, her father wiped the rain dripping down his face from his hair. Jenny pushed her own wet hair out of the face.
"Give me that," her mother tried to take the axe, "Let go, Jenny."
Reluctantly, Jenny let go.
"What did you see?" asked her father.
"I saw-" what did she see? A thing? A long, human-shaped thing? "Dad, I just don't know."
He sighed, "It could've been a bear."
"A bear, in Stardew Valley?" her mother sounded alarmed.
"There are rumours, that there is a bear in the woods." He wasn't shouting, at least. He pointed at her mother, "And you! 'Get it Jenny!'" He mocked her voice, "What were you thinking?"
"What are you talking about?" Her mother's voice went all flat, "I was telling her to come in."
"It wasn't a bear," said Jenny.
"You saw it then?"
"I saw something, and it was . . . not a bear." Jenny could tell she'd disappointed him, from the way he looked away.
He grabbed a towel and started drying off. "I think, that your grandad told you too many stories about this place. And I think that recent events have, influenced you . . ."
"Influenced me?" Jenny could hardly breathe, "Dad there was something out there. It looked in the window! I saw it!"
"Maybe it was a teenager!" interjected her mum, "I saw some hanging around the town centre!"
Jenny paused to take stock. It was clear her parents wanted her to say it was a person, or a bear. She knew things could turn nasty, and even if they had seen what she saw, they'd take her back with them to the city. She took a calming breath and rubbed her forehead. She'd had a lot of practise agreeing with things she didn't agree with, while working for Joja.
"Maybe you're right," she said, "I'm tired. I had a scare recently." It worked immediately. Her parents seemed to breathe easier. "It was probably a mouse or something," she said, bitterly, only here she saw her dad wrinkle his brow. He'd seen the dark shape run from behind the house too. "Or a stray dog," she added quickly, "That's probably what it was, poor thing."
"There," her mother patted her father on the arm. "It was a stray dog."
"Hmm." He shrugged, irritably.
Her mum kept talking, "Maybe we should ask in town, tomorrow? Someone might have lost a dog."
"Tomorrow? Try in a few hours. It's 3am." Her dad sat on the bed, "I have a long drive tomorrow, and I need to get some rest. Try not to wake me up, again before seven."
"I'll try," said Jenny, with a fake smile, "Not to wake you with my silly worries again."
He frowned at her. She turned away.
Her mother came to give her a towel, and a hug, "Are you alright, darling? You're still shaking?"
"Mum," Jenny could've started crying right then. Her mother took the towel and started to dry her hair. Blinking against tears, Jenny glanced over her mother's shoulder at the dark window. "It wasn't a dog. It wasn't."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe it was someone from town . . ." This was the only way, Jenny could let her mother know she was afraid, without seeming crazy.
"Oh baby," said her mum, "If it was, I'm sure it was just someone being nosey, or using the porch to get out of the rain."
Jenny remembered the way the thing bent itself under the porch, the way it pressed its face against the window. And breathed out against the glass.
"Just getting out of the rain," she agreed.
A/N: The night is dark and full of terrors . . . Jenny gets a glimpse of the dark side to Stardew Valley. Thank you for reading this far. I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes, I get so caught up in the story . . . and they slip by. If you spot any story ruining errors (spelling or plot-wise) please tell me.
