Veil of Shadow and Rain ✓ [TSC #1]

Chapter 3 - A Choice, A Decision

Slowly, she went down the stairs. It creaked a little. She winced. Her uncle was still snoring in his room, fast asleep. She breathed out in relief. It was a good thing that her uncle was a heavy sleeper.

A few minutes later, she made it down the landing. The next thing she needed to do was get the keys, open the front door, and get out. Easy as that.

Now, where were the keys? She started hunting for them. Where would her uncle put the keys? Probably under Tabitha's bed. She went over to Tabitha who was sound asleep, breathing in and out.

Wren sighed. It was a place worth looking into. Gently, she carried Tabitha up, the cat's weight feeling weird in her hands. Her legs drooped over her palms and Wren put her down on the ground lightly. The cat stirred.

Wren froze.

Tabitha meowed and turned over on the ground. There was something off about her. She was trembling, for a reason. Shivering, maybe. Wren needed to find that key fast. She hunted below Tabitha's pillow, her blanket ('She has a blanket?' Wren whispered to herself in amazement) but there was no key.

Disgruntled, Wren put Tabitha back on her blanket. She pulled out the chairs from the kitchen table, desperate to find the key. She searched everywhere, every room except for her uncle's.

What if the key was there? Besides, he was a sound sleeper. Like cat, like master.

She tiptoed into his room as quietly as she could. She crept in as silently as a mouse and reached her uncle's table. It was so messy a cockroach couldn't make its home there. Documents, papers, pens, books, and binders were scattered on the table messily. To begin with, Wren stacked the papers up together and started pulling out his drawers. No key was in sight.

It was around ten minutes later Wren gave up and decided to search the living room again. She walked out of her uncle's room in despair. She glanced at the front door wearily. It was so tempting to open it and escape. She leaned against the door, resting her hand on the door handle. Suddenly, it bent down, causing her to yelp in agony. She clamped a hand over her mouth, forgetting to be quiet as the door lurched open. She gasped in disbelief. It wasn't locked at all! She peered at the door handle to see a key hanging there helplessly on the edge to fall off.

She kicked herself and laughed in amazement. Just like her uncle to leave the key on the door handle herself. She opened it to its full width, not before drawing out the key. She closed the door and slipped the key underneath the door. She hunched her bag over her shoulder and stepped out into the night.

The wind blew in her hair. The midnight blue sky stared down at her as if inviting her to explore the rest of the world. The town was still and silent, except for the wind blowing here and there.

She drew out the map and looked at the pine tree forest. She looked up. The pine trees that were in the town next to hers were on the right. She gazed to her right as a few pine trees far away met her sight.

The pine tree forest stood in Hayorch Town. She unpocketed her phone and looked at the time. It was 1 a.m. She sighed as she sat down on the garden bench.

The Night London buses would come around 1-ish. They were in operation until 6 a.m. Just as she predicted, a roar of the engine was heard and she stood up hastily. She waved a hand at the tall, red bus for it to stop.

The bus stopped and its doors opened, allowing Wren to enter. She boarded the bus to find the grey-haired bus conductor staring at her warily.

'One pound fifty.'

'Ah.' Wren rummaged in her bag and pulled out one pound and fifty shillings. She handed it to the conductor who grunted, 'Cram yourself at the back.'

'Right. Uh, just to confirm, the next stop is Hayorch Town, correct?'