Sitting at the window, her hands under her chin as she rested them on the window sil, Lila looked out into the lit street below, behind her, Theodore snored, his arms outstretched as he slept on his stomach, his face buried in the pillows, reverberating at every interval.
The rain hadn't let up, still, it stopped lighting and thundering, but otherwise, Lila hadn't spotted the infamous fog said to ensnare anyone who foolishly encountered it out in the open.
Her chestnut eyes surveyed the street, the darkness hiding her as she sat on the chair she pulled from the vanity, all she saw in her surveillance had only been the rain and the wind, no one went outside, at least from where she sat.
By the time the rain finally stopped, it'll be closer to daybreak, tonight isn't a good night for the fog, it seemed.
"Mhm?" Lila heard a mumble coming from the bed, turning her head, she sees Theodore barely moving his head, and she said to him, "Nothing. Don't think we're seeing it tonight. It hasn't stopped raining."
Theodore mumbled, "Mhm… mmmhmmm."
Lila retorts, "Says the bed hog. You pushed me out, so I figured I'd do surveillance."
Somehow, the aloof giant's able to take up an entire bed with his arms.
"Mhmmm… mmm… mhmmm," Theodore replied.
He moved his arms, bringing them closer to him, using one of his hands to wave her over.
Sighing, Lila closes the blinds and curtains, before returning to the bed, as Theodore brought her close to him, once again.
She fell asleep soon after, when she opened her eyes, the sun's barely peeking out of the clouds, as they haven't moved on since last night.
Slowly her chestnut eyes readjusted as they moved around, noticing wild hair in front of her, feeling Theodore snoring in her chest.
Rubbing her eyes, Lila pulled away the crust collected around her eyes, mindful of her hand movement.
Once every piece's been safely pulled away, bringing relief to Lila, her chestnut eyes moved towards the clock on the nightstand as she sees it's almost noon.
If not for Hammond, this would be the time she'd normally wake up, exasperated by her second job, Lila slept longer than she cared to admit.
There's movement, Lila sees the wild hair moving on its own, a yawn coming from it, as it rose, there's two icy blue eyes droopily looking towards her, a hand emerged from under the sheets, rubbing them, when they readjusted, the icy blue eyes moved towards Lila's face.
More movement, there's a face appearing before her, he has pearly white teeth.
"Morning, sleepyhead," Lila greeted Theodore as he moved closer towards her face, giving her a kiss.
Pulling away, Theodore dreamily responded, "Morning!"
They talked for a few minutes before pulling away, Theodore stealing a few more kisses, before they readied for their next attempt at seeing the supposed fog.
No red morning, today, but with the clouds hanging, it wouldn't mattered, they couldn't see it, anyhow.
Further confirmed by the clerk at the counter as they informed her that they're heading out to get something to eat for "supper" before they stepped out of the inn, the cold breeze hitting their faces.
Walking along the sidewalk, the pair searched for somewhere else to eat, since they'd already had "supper" at the Crabby Ann.
During their leisurely walk, they found a dandy diner on the corner, the smell of freshly brewed coffee drew them towards it, and there they had their "supper" where they learnt that dinner for the island is "late-night snacking" and breakfast is "lunch."
Odd terms, these, but it made sense in the context the town was a fishing village that expanded over the years, that fishermen had a different schedule when they ate.
Between sips of their coffee and bites of their respected sandwiches, Theodore contacted Al, to see what he came up with in his downtime, Al says there's a historian on the island who'd know a lot more about the fog, she's at the museum of heritage.
"Any disappearances last night?" Theodore inquired if Al came into possession on any news articles relating to recent disappearances last night, Al replying that he didn't see anything new pop up on his scanner.
No fog, reported anywhere on the island.
He's monitoring the weather as they speak, looking for the ingredients needed to create the fog, but so far, it's a few days away from them.
"I don't know what to tell you, kid, I'm not exactly the weatherman," Al shrugged as he tells Theodore in his mind how they won't see a chance of fog for another few days.
Pondering his choices, Theodore asked if there's anyway for them to learn about the disappearances in detail, which Al gave him the name of the sheriff who was part of the investigations.
The sheriff's department's only a block over from the museum, they can stop over there after they're done with their time in the museum.
Leaving Al to continue his work, Theodore consumed his "supper" with Lila, the caffeine slowly waking them up.
Chewing on his bite of his pastrami sandwich, Theodore talked to Lila, trying to come up with ideas, and well, they don't have anything to go off on except a story by their waitress from last night.
"If the locals are well-aware of the fog and tourist season's over, I doubt we'll see anyone go missing," Lila pointed out that with the legend and accounts ingrained in the locals' heads, they're not going outside if they suspect the fog's upon them. With tourist season over, there isn't an influx of tourists that'll stay out late.
Drinking his coffee, Theodore pondered this before giving his answer as he sat the cup down on the table, wiping his mouth down with a napkin.
"Hm, but as you're aware, Lee, the younger generation doesn't put much stock in what their parents and grandparents believe in," Theodore reminded Lila that while the locals are keen not going out late at night after a rainstorm, their children are likely to bulk the rules, out of sense of rebelling and skepticism.
Slowly nodding, Lila agreed with Theodore's point as she drank her coffee.
Seen this before in a movie!
Their "supper" concluded and with the directions from Al, Theodore led Lila around the block, on the path to the museum, arms interlocked.
It's a quiet town when it's not tourist season, all the fishermen went on their boats in the early morning, everyone else broke off to their day-to-day jobs when they aren't catering to the tourists.
A cold breeze, something fierce, slammed into their faces as they walked, felt like they walked into an ice block, it was cold.
Even if there's rebellious teenagers, they wouldn't be out in this weather at night, party, or no party.
The museum's ahead, it's not anything grand like the London Museum, but there was an attempt to make it somewhat prim, with the Roman columns at the entrance.
Going up the concrete steps, they head to the two-door entrance, upon entering they see the aisles of books, displays, that familiar smell that reminded Lila of her grandparents' home.
Theodore noted that this was someone's house some years ago, before it was converted into a museum.
"Right on the nose, aren't you?" Theodore heard a voice echoing and the sound of heels clattering against the hardwood floor, a woman wearing a bright dress walked towards them, curiosity in her eyes.
A slight shrug, Theodore admitted that he took a stab in the dark, before the woman introduced herself as the curator to the museum.
Lois Fletcher.
Been working the museum for about twenty years this year, hard to notice since she looked younger.
"I don't recognize you two," Lois looked between them, curiously in her bright green eyes, and Lila tells her that they're visitors to the island.
They're aware that it's not tourist season, anymore, but they figured that it meant they won't deal with the crowds, something Lois sighed heavily as she admitted that it gets harder every year trying to keep a gaggle of tourists interested in the island's history.
If anyone came to the museum, at all.
History's losing it's touch, it seemed.
Still busy every year, but the numbers are dropping off.
"Oh, my companion and I are no stranger to history," Theodore informed her of his and Lila's penchant for history, further interesting Lois as she studied them.
Gladly, she gave them a tour around the museum, talking about the history of the island, how it came to be settled, and of course, the curious legend of a fog that allegedly spirits away anyone unfortunate caught in it.
Legends go that it was a curse brought upon the island from the natives that once lived on it some centuries, ago, vowing discourse and destruction against the invaders from the mainland.
Since, it's been known to appear, always at the dead of night, slowly washing over the island completely.
"Have you seen it?" Lila asks Lois if she'd seen this fog, causing the woman let out a chuckle, covering her mouth, before replying, "Oh no, miss, I don't believe in that. We do get fog, every now again, but a fog that steals people?"
Despite her love for history, Lois had to put her foot down somewhere, and the belief that a seemingly sentient fog kidnaps people's one of them.
In her belief, fogs can't and don't kidnap people.
"What's your explanation?" Theodore inquired Lois's opinion as they walked around the museum.
Her heels clanking against the hardwood floor, Lois tells him, "At the time of the legend, Shanghaiing wasn't uncommon, my belief's that the missing people from that time were taken by surprised and forced to work aboard ships."
A tale from another time, it wasn't uncommon for unscrupulous people to wait for an opportune time to kidnap unsuspecting victims during foggy nights, and on an island that's a given.
It's a port town, ships come and go all the time, perfect storm for kidnapping.
"We heard that these disappearances keep happening," Lila covertly brought up what she and Theodore heard and Lois shook her head disappointedly as she knew instantly.
Her bangles clanking against each other as she moved her hand over her face, pulling her strands of cherry red hair behind her ears, Lois informed Lila, "On this island, you don't really have much to do unless you go into the mainland, but we don't have that kind of money to make those trips. It wouldn't surprise me if they gotten pulled by the waves."
As for the recent disappearances, Lois stated that they gone missing during some nasty storms the island braved against. It was a big commotion when it happened, but according to her, the tourists didn't heed the locals warning.
They were the types to ignore the warnings, thinking they knew better, and they paid for it.
Sounded awfully harsh coming from a curator.
While Lois described the incidents, Theodore had Al covertly check for him, and he confirmed that during the period where the tourists disappeared, storms hit the island.
Like a sack of bricks.
It was listed as a possible cause of death in the reports.
Witnesses collaborated that the storms were devastating, but neither could collaborate the hereabouts of the tourists, though the inn keeper stated the tourists gone out before the storms came through.
They claimed they would be back before the storms, but they never appeared, again, and the inn keeper thought they took shelter somewhere else during the storms.
However, no one confirmed sheltering the tourists, thus the belief they were swept into the ocean by the crashing waves.
After that, the tour continued until the end, where Lois showed them the gift shop, before leaving to tend to the museum.
"No fog," Lila noted that Lois never said that there was afog during the storms.
Mulling what they learnt as he poked through the corners of the gift shop, Theodore caught it as well, of course they couldn't take Lois's words as truth until they talked to the others.
Eventually, they left the museum, departing to the path once again, taking it towards the sheriff's department, hoping to investigate the disappearances with more clarity.
As they walked along the path, Lila's chestnut eyes glanced around, in the distant she heard the waves crashing into the rocks, seagulls squawking from above, and a figure in the tall grass.
Couldn't see clearly, they're at a distance, but the figure disappeared the moment the pair passed a tourist wooden sign.
Her mind beginning to wonder, Lila's chestnut eyes moved elsewhere, and as they did, they see what looked like the same figure, seemingly closer, wearing a fitted navy-blue suit, a red tie over a white dress suit, their eyes obscured by the fluttering of the thick grass.