The Watching

Shane walked with Jas, hand in tiny hand to the bus stop where they'd meet Penny. And, he realized late, that they'd be meeting up with Pam too. She didn't often pass up a moment to make a small quip, something always about not seeing him around the ole bar too often now-a-days. He wondered absently if she might be feeling a little alone being the only drunk in town for the most part now. But... self medication probably kept her numb to the idea. He looked down at Jas and smiled faintly, her face turned to look at the flowers they passed.

She's worth giving up alcohol. Give her a better life. I'm gonna be a better Uncle... God father.

As they neared the bus stop, there she was, standing leaned up against the ticket kiosk, lazily looking down the tunnel, as if expecting someone might just drive through to visit. That, though, barely even happened during festivals. Their footsteps alerted her though and she turned, raising her eyebrows as she was met with an unusual site. Before her remarks could come forward though, her head turned again to see her daughter, Penny, and Vincent.

"Wow, am I the guest of honor for this meeting?" She asked, and Vincent laughed a little.

"No! Me and Miss Penny are picking up Jas!" Vincent announced gleefully, looking up as though for Penny's approval. He looked quite happy to have a walk alone with Penny and she smiled at him but chided gently.

"Keep your voice a little lower, Vincent, remember how the baby birds might be sleeping?" she said with that soft smile and he clammed up, putting his hand over his mouth in realization. Jas giggled now and skipped over to grab hold of Penny's other hand.

"Oh right!" Pam spoke up with amusement, smirking at Shane. "Cause you and little miss thing are in cahoots now." and she laughed hoarsely. Shane flushed a bit, looking down for a moment but regained the ability to not be a dick quickly and gave Jas his best father-figure-firm look.

"Make sure you're good today, I think Miss Laura might have a treat for you if I hear you were well behaved. And make sure to say please and thank you." her nodding and smiling made him smile too, and he knelt down and opened his arms to receive a hug from his niece. Pulling away he squeezed her arms lightly and said, "Have a good day. I love you."

"I love you too!" she said gleefully. Shane had always loved Jas, but it wasn't until recently and with a lot of thought he began to say it to her, and to see her react to positively he was happy the change had occurred in him.

As he stood and watched them leave, a feeling of calm came over him. Of happiness, even humor as he heard a small voice,

"What does cahoots mean?" as they walked away. He was disenchanted though, when Pam remarked smartly,

"Yeah, Shaney boy, what DOES cahoots mean?" she laughed.

"None of your fuckin' business, Pam." he shot back but it made her laugh a little harder. Rolling his eyes he made his way back to the farm but not without hearing what he'd prepared himself for since he got there.

"Hey! Don't see much of ya at the saloon by the way! Come by sometime!" he nodded his head passively, and left.

What has been going on, he thought to himself as he walked back towards the farm, hands deep in his pockets and mind deep in thought. Since their dinner his mind was flooded with thinking about what Lewis had said, and for that matter, what Pam had said too. And the hug. That embrace from Laura had him a little taken aback with wonder. For a man who primarily lived a solitary life, and absolutely a man who avoided much contact with those outside his family, these feelings were a lot for him to handle, as though he was pushing that rock up a steep hill, a Sisyphean task.

He'd always been grateful to Laura, and respected her, her craft, and ability- but the only main emotion besides respect, was jealousy in terms of how he felt about her. Or at least he thought so.

Yesterday, their conversation and embrace had reminded him of a past winter. When he, at a loss for words, had instead reached out to her, attempting to be a comfort. He'd felt that shock run through his body, just like in winter, except with her initiation it felt so much... more. There was a chaos in his mind, and he was unsure if he'd catch it. Or if he'd figure out what he was even chasing.

Shane was coming up on the farm, and stopped at Laura's mailbox, remembering. Guilt had pushed him into shoving those notes in there but... maybe something else...

"Shane!" Laura called happily from a few clumps of blueberry bushes. "Lunch is in the fridge when you want it."

That was something else surprising about Laura, that she woke up so much earlier than he had realized. Shane got to the farm about 8am every morning, an hour earlier than when he worked at Joja Mart. But Laura, he found out, was up at 5am, and went out into the fields by 6am to work. But... maybe it was just something she did every other day or something. He hoped with all his might that it wasn't something she did every day. Shane had always been a night owl. But for some reason... he was willing to try to change.

The end of the day sped quickly up with the house hold, and Jas was back before they knew it, but both Shane and Laura knew work needed to be done until dark. Laura tried to get Shane to relax and go inside and have dinner and relax, but after protests from Jas to play outside and Shane saying he'd rather do the same work, she gave in and they continued work as usual, and Jas left to play around the green house with a promise to be safe. Not knowing something lurked in the tree line and the larger the shadows became, the closer the creature came to the edge.

If she wasn't so busy, Laura may have noticed that the junimo's were no where to be seen, where as they typically scuttled around near her legs now and then. Instead, they were huddled together in front of where the shadow brute lurked, chirping and squeaking with anger and a low and creaking hiss came from them. Jas, who played unsuspecting in and out of the green house was unaware but the brute was watching her every move with a cicada like noise emitting from the tree line by the Junimo's who were protesting the arrival of a creature seeking evil actions. Even Ooma, usually laying languidly about was sitting straight up, eyes sharp and ears perked high. The cat knew, just as the Junimo's did, that they couldn't do much at the moment. It was a silent battle of nerves and invisible vibrations of power. The brute was unaffected though and grinned a sharp toothy grin.

"You have nothing against me. Get away, before I take her now. This human has done enough. Taken enough of our lives. I'm taking something precious of hers." he growled out, his voice gravely and teeth snapping as he spoke, sunken white eyes staring at the child and dripping with malice. He was met with more squeaking protest. Night grew thicker, and he almost made the decision to step out of the tree line when that voice he despised so much rang out. A voice he'd escaped more than a few times as she had hacked her way through the mines. The woman's absence had not gone unnoticed and while the shaman had dismissed her as a random nuisance for a while, Olc knew better. And he wanted her dead. The Adventurer's Guild members rarely ventured deep into where his people lay, as they aged and aged. But, it seemed they had recruited a new member, better than all of her predecessors combined. And when she suddenly stopped showing up as much, Olc knew... something important was keeping her above ground. A human this strong wouldn't have been incapacitated for as long as she had been gone. And there it was, proof. A child, and a man in her life now. He was so close to stealing away her happiness he could almost taste it. His tongue ran across his teeth, feeling the sharp ebbs and flows and envisioning his teeth crashing down into her flesh and tearing her apart. All of them. But his carnal desire needed to be held back, at least until he could get a better plan laid out. After seeing her destroy so many of them, he knew this was beyond a direct confrontation. He'd need his plan to work...

He studied the area a bit longer, as the child ran off to the sound of the woman calling to her. As she ran into the waiting arms of his enemy, and then into the arms of the other human. Olc's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He could sense the man was strong... but not in the same way as his human friend. It was his time to leave he decided, and he grinned toothily down at the Junimo's who were shaking and waving their hands in an attempt to put a barrier between he and the farm. It may have held him back for a bit, but it wouldn't take him long to tear them all apart too... but to keep from much suspicion he refrained with not a little restraint.

"I'll be back." Olc snarled, and grinned at them before retreating back, and down into his people's refuge. Despite this, the little creatures stayed by the forest's edge, a wordless agreement resonating through them all to protect their newfound home as much as possible.

As you can see, things are going to be taking a turn. I've been thinking maybe I should put more of a description of what this story is going to be about in the description but I'm not sure. Let me know? Or any feedback is more than welcome. :) Thank you for reading and following!

For the second part, I was listening to Acid Rain by Lorn if anyone wants a "mood" to the section.