Telluric

Chapter I: Darkening Clouds

I

A light snowfall fell upon a small town named Graywood. Warm buildings lit up a path with holiday lights and anticipation. Slowly through a path through the forest that nearly surrounds the town, a figure in a dark hood trudges mechanically toward the only inn, Blackbird's Perch. He carries a black cane, matching his robes. A black hat fits above his head, shielding a bird-like mask that hides his identity from those who look upon him. The warmth shines upon him as he approaches.

The first to spot this hooded figure is a young man named Noah, walking from his house in a blaze of frustration with his parents. He sees the man trudge through the snow, and stops, nervously rubbing his hands, a habit he had when he was nervous. An ominous feeling of fright washes over Noah as he continues on and hides in the shadows between two buildings. The man walks in the street lights and stops in front of where Noah is hiding. He turns his head, lifts one finger to his beak, as if to say "Shh..." and then continues on.

Noah creeps out from his hiding just as he catches one last glimpse, before the man retires within the Blackbird's Perch. Noah slowly begins to follow him, as it was where he was heading anyway.

Noah sped by the statue of three nude decapitated ladies, who stood together in union. It had always made Noah fell uneasy, though many things in this town did.

He paid the front desk for a room for the night, and then began to silently walk through the building, until he made it to the dining room that looked more like a diner. No sign of the plague-doctor looking man.

"Hey, Noah!" The voice is warm and familiar. Clary Thompson smiles from behind her black sun-glasses and attire. According to her, she happens to be the descendent of witches executed during the Salem Witch Trials. She looks and smiles wickedly, though it quickly turns into a face of worrying. "What's wrong?" She whispers.

"I'm looking for someone..." Noah trails off, suddenly becoming interested in the particles of air on his shoulder.

"Aren't we all?" Clary answers sneeringly with a wide grin. Noah chuckled and shook his head slowly in the dimness of the building.

"No not like that. He was... robed... and had that mask... sort of like a bird's mask, I think. And he wore some sort of hat... I don't know." His fists were clenched anxiously. Sometimes he was just a tad bit high-strung. Noah took a deep breath, wiped sweat from his crowded head and relaxed for a second. "Anyway, I'm going to stay here for the night." Noah told Clary.

"Really? Your family again?" She asked Noah. She always seemed to know things, whether or not he told her. It was a bit off putting at times, when she would suddenly know one of his secrets. But he normally disregarded them, as he was a bit scared of her.

"My dad, mainly. He just gets to me sometimes. I just need a night to blow off some steam, away from them. I have enough money for the night." Noah sighed and looked toward the front desk.

"Well, I'd let you stay at my house..." Clary stood next to him. "But it's a hell hole right now. Messy as fuck... Anyway, would you like to join me at the bar? It's on me." She motioned toward the bar counter, but Noah shook his head. He grabbed his bag of various schoolwork, personal items, and money.

Noah had school in the morning, evident from his bag of books and homework, as he gripped a stuffed elephant he had had for his entire life; he sat down at a table in the dining room. Clary sat next to him, her pale skin shining under the bar lights.

A wave of ominous silence crashed in the Blackbird's Perch. The two drowned in it until Clary broke it with a soft philosophical clause. "The clouds are darkening on this town." She began. "Don't let them strike you with lightening, or frighten you with thunder." She took her shot, smiled, then headed back to the bar. Even with this unsettling wisdom bestowed upon her, he knew she was absolutely right.

He checked into the inn, and headed to room 11, the last room on the second floor. It smelled of cigarettes and pine, but it was clean. He took his stuff and spread it out on the desk next to the small television and window. The street lamps outside lit up the snow like tiny stars, illuminating the dark forest sky and sprinkling against the ground. He turned the TV on for background noise, and began his homework. About halfway through solving an imaginary number question for Algebra, something caught his eye out the window.

It was the masked man again. Staring up to the window of Noah's room, he put a finger to his beak, and vanished into the forest. 'The clouds are definitely darkening,' Noah thought.

***

The dawn shone through onto Noah's tired head, as he rested upon the inn bed. The light source woke him and he prepared for the school day ahead of him. The bright winter morning cooled his hot and anxious body, as he did the routine things that most teenagers do in the morning.

When he was finally done, Noah exited the inn, left a tip, and paid for the night he spent there. School was about to start as Noah reached the school building. He went to his homeroom to be accounted for, when something caught his eye outside. The window in the hallway pointed toward the outside grounds, where students were able to eat lunch on sunny days. Just beyond that were the Gray Woods, which was the forest that surrounded the town, and in turn gave the town its name.

But that history wasn't what intrigued Noah, and caused him to look outside. It was the man, dressed like a plague doctor, wearing that mask that somewhat resembled a bird. He once again stared ominously toward Noah, and pressed his finger to the tip of his mask. Anxious, Noah looked away, toward the door that led to this homeroom, then back out the window. The man was gone, vanished into thin air. Noah awkwardly began walking, pondering what he just saw. Just as he arrived in homeroom, the teacher called his name for attendance.

"Noah Fitzgerald?" Ms. Ramona asked.

"I'm here." Noah spat just in time. Ms. Ramona nodded her blonde head in acceptance, with a sly smirk on her face. Noah didn't see this, as he was too busy getting to his seat to notice. If Noah was to have seen this, he would have instantly noticed that something was off, being that Ms. Ramona didn't ever smile.

But Noah didn't, being much too weary, as he sat down and nervously rubbed his hands together, and waited to get on with the rest of the day.