Mothers Watch

Stranger at Home

After resting for a while, and getting something to eat, I returned to my room. The wind was still blowing strongly, making the window rattle somewhat in its frame. The sky, had darkened with the heavy cloud cover, but at least it was no longer raining. Feeling a little restless, I thought that a walk may help me settle for the night. I grabbed a coat and made my way downstairs. As I crossed the foyer, the strange young lady, I had met on my arrival, was stood by the desk. She smiled softly, as she crossed over to meet me. There was something about her that was intoxicating. Those deep, dark eyes. The way she moved. She seemed almost ethereal.
“Mr. Farleigh, you’re not going outside, are you?” Her voice seemed to hold a genuine concern for my well-being. I held up my hand, in a weak protest.
“Please, Miss, you don’t…” She cut me off, before I could finish.
“Ieda”, she said in that strange, exotic accent. “My name is Ieda”. After assuring her that I would be fine, by pulling on my coat front, and adjusting my woolen hat, I turned for the door. She called out to me, as I left.
“Beware the shadow of the sea”. What a curious thing to say, I thought.

Outside, it was still very wet. Excess rainwater, being blown from some rooftops, made it sound as though it were still raining. My wet, sodden footsteps echoed down the street. Although the wind covered them, the air was cold enough that the sound travelled well. At first, I just intended on taking the main street down to the end of the block, then follow the old buildings around and back up. Once I had rounded the corner, I found myself making my way toward the harbor. The street I had turned down, was sheltered from the wind, and the echoes of my footsteps sounded off resoundingly, as I made my way. The further I got, the stranger the sound seemed to get. It almost seemed that there were now two sets of steps. Timed perfectly, yet slightly out of sync. Looking back the way I came, I could see no-one there. As I continued walking, the strange out of sync footsteps followed me. Once again, I span around, hoping to catch somebody there. Yet again, I could see nobody. This strange phantasm carried on the entire length of the street. Each time I turned to look, there wasn’t a soul to be seen. All the way down to the cobbled thoroughfare that ran along the harbor front. Curiously, as soon as I stepped out into the rather pale lamplight, the off-sync secondary footsteps ceased. I’m not usually one to give credence to tales of apparitions, and the such, but that is what I felt that I had experienced. The breeze, coming in off the sea, was positively chilling, and it made me pull my coat collar tightly closed. As I made my way along the harbor side, I found myself outside the tavern. The cracked, faded, wooden sign read “The Cephalo’s Caress”. It sounded quite busy inside, although not as busy as before. Wanting to get out of the wind, I grasped the handle of the door and pushed.

The atmosphere inside was heavily humid, and surprisingly warm. The only heat source that I could see was one of those old, barrel sized iron stoves. A hush fell about the place, when the door closed, and most of the occupants turned to see who had walked in. The silence only lasted a few seconds, but it was long enough to make me feel a little uncomfortable. As I took my hat off, nearly everybody returned to whatever they were doing beforehand. It seemed somewhat odd to me, that from outside, it sounded as if it was really busy. Once inside, I could see that there was plenty of space. Some people inside gave me a shallow nod, as I passed, in greeting. This small gesture helped to alleviate any unwelcome sensation, as I walked over to the bar. The heavyset gent, behind the bar, eyed me suspiciously with a forced smile, as I approached. He paused, for a short while, before fetching my drink. Not enough to make me feel unwelcome, but long enough that I knew my place as a stranger. As I sat there, sipping on my drink, the inhabitants barely paid me any heed at all. Admittedly, a few were casting quick glances my way, but nothing that lingered. Until I noticed them. Or, at least, where they were stood. The corner where they gathered was cloaked in shadow. The outline of their forms could be made out, against the candle and lantern lit, gray, plastered walls behind.  That shadowed area hid most of their features, but every so often, the light would glint off their eyes. In the dim light, cast by various flames, I could have sworn that their eyes were not of unnatural color. Not the browns, blues, or even greens, you expect to see. These eyes seemed to be of amber and reds. You could feel an energy emanating from this group of four figures. An energy that sent a chill through the core of my being. I could feel their gaze on me, the entire time it took me to finish my drink. As I gulped down the last of my beverage, I closed my eyes. In the brief handful of seconds they were closed, the group in shadow had gone. As I stood to leave, the patrons all fell quiet at the same time, looked in my direction and nodded. This made me hurriedly pull on my coat and leave as quickly as I could.

Back in my room, it was rather cold.  Thankfully, there was a small iron stove, in the corner of the room, and once I got it stoked up, it didn’t take long for my room to get comfortable. Once it was suitably comfortable, I prepared myself for bed. Before settling for sleep, I had gotten into the habit of reading, of late. It helped me relax and clear the day's thoughts, and it didn’t take long for my eyes to start feeling heavy. She came to me, in my dreams, again. The wind was blowing strongly, out to sea. It seemed, at first, that she didn’t even see me. I was below her, on a stony step. Her eyes seemed to be rolled back in her head, as though deep in ecstasy, of some kind. Her naked form drenched from the heavy rain that stung as it struck. Not looking entirely like skin, but something more coarse. Reflecting different shades of gray, green, white, and red. Behind her, silhouetted by sporadic flashes of lightning, was The Watch. Looming. Dark and foreboding. Giving off an energy like that of some predatory creature, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I barely noticed Ieda lower her head, to look down at me. Her arms reached out, towards me, in an almost beckoning way. Then I saw it. Some amorphous, shifting form, seemingly rising out of, and consuming The Watch, at the same time. I recoiled from the sight of this thing. In doing so, Ieda let out a terrifying cry, that was, in itself, full of terror. The thing's multitude of eyes, transfixed onto my position, as I tried to scramble away. All was for naught, however, as the beast let out a thunderous noise. Horrific and paralyzing, my heart beat so strongly, I thought it would burst from my chest. As I fell, this eldritch thing's visage grew, to swallow the sky, and I was rendered into darkness.

I was awoken with a start, as my book hit the floor. My bedding was half off the bed and was cold, from the clammy sweat it was drenched in. Staggering to the window, I pulled the drapes aside, only to recoil slightly as the light struck me. Despite the sky being gray, overcast and angry looking, I still found the sudden shift of light dazzling. Basking in the light briefly, I had to tear myself away from the warmth. Looking at my watch, I was shocked to find that half the morning had already passed! Never had I slept in that late! Donning my day clothes, as quickly as I could, I hoped that I did not look too disheveled, as I descended the stairs. All the breakfast things, by this time, were gone and there were no scraps left for my breakfast. Mrs. Carkerns commented that I was looking rather tired and pale, and apologized for there being no food left, but recommended a couple of places that would be serving food, at this time of day. Thanking her, I turned to leave. As I made my way across the foyer, Ieda was just coming through a door, to the back of the dining room. With the recent dreams I had been having of her, I tried my best to avoid her. Inadvertently, I caught her eye, as I was making my way to the door. She smiled and waved to me. Out of politeness, I gave a small smile and hurried to the door, as she made her way across the room.

Outside, despite the sun shining, the breeze coming off the sea, made it feel a few degrees cooler that it was. Not so much that it bothered me, but enough that it was noticeable. There seemed to be a few more people out and about, today. Maybe because of the sun, or the breeze bringing a freshness not unlike a spring morning. I couldn’t really say. Everybody was seemingly quite friendly, though. Moreso than I had experienced, so far, with my return. I was getting nods and smiles. Calls of “morning”, “good day”, and the like. This was truly the first time, since my  return, that I had felt this welcome. I made my way down and outward, towards the sun, to a small diner, that Mrs. Carkerns had recommended. The welcome I got, yet again, was warm and welcoming. It was almost as though I were a long-lost family member, returning home. As I was being shown to a table, there was Mr. Farragut-Harman beckoning me to join him, at his table.
“I say, old chap. Are you feeling well?” He inquired. “You seem somewhat pale, this morning, sir”.
I replied that other than feeling a little tired, (I didn’t explain why), that I felt quite well.
“You said that you were familiar with The Watch, yes?” It was one of those questions that did not need to be answered. I nodded as I sipped on a coffee. “Well, I intended to take a little jaunt up there later, today, and was hoping that you could join me, if you feel well enough, of course”.
“I’d be delighted to”, I replied, “although I really don’t know what help I could be”.
He began to lay out his plans to fully map out the area, and collect samples of the geology and flora. Despite still being mystified as to how I could assist Harman, we agreed to meet later that afternoon, after he had gathered some supplies. We shook hands, and I turned to leave. As I did so, I was greeted by the same experience from the Cephalo’s Caress. The other patrons in the diner all seemed to stop what they were doing, momentarily, to acknowledge that I was leaving. This behavior was starting to feel unnerving and strange, and it certainly put me on edge. Even once outside, several people did the same thing. As I turned a corner, to make my way back to my room, a group of four very pale looking children ran into me. The lead boy, he couldn’t have been more than eight or nine years old, took my hand. He looked straight into my eyes and said “thank you, sir”, before running off again.