Snippets of Eventide

No.1: Waking in Eventide

Ginger and I walked up to the house, small and modest. I stood by her side as she knocked on the door. Footsteps came soft on the other side before the door opened, and a tired-looking man with fiery hair and bright green eyes peered out at us.

"Oh," he spoke slowly. "Are you Ginger?"

She nodded and held out a hand. "Ginger Lark." She paused as he shook it, then gestured to me. "And this is Asher Sang, who's learning under me."

The man turned to me and extended his hand. "Dakota Ruse."

I took his hand and shook. My skin crawled. Exhaustion thickened my blood, but there was something else. Something threatening, something that sent a chill down the length of my back. If he noticed, he didn't show it as he drew back and stepped inside the house.

"Come on in."

I followed Ginger through the door, trailing Dakota through to the living room. Glancing through doorways we passed, it seemed he hadn't cleaned in a while. Dishes piled up at the sink in the kitchen, old cups left on coffee tables, shoes scattered haphazardly by the door...

He stopped in front of a couch and couple of large chairs with pillows and blankets more or less randomly piled on the edges. "Do you want to sit down?"

Ginger shook her head. "I'm alright, thanks." She took out a notebook and her pink pen. "Now, can you elaborate on what's going on?"

I looked from her to Dakota as he thought. He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair. My chest tightened and I had to force myself to take a breath. There was something watching us. No, not us. Something was watching him. Something that didn't want us here.

"I'm not sure." He finally sighed.

Ginger nodded. "Is it a feeling? Are things going missing or happening that shouldn't be?"

Dakota shook his head. "No, nothing's gone and everything seems normal." He paused, looking down to the floor. "It... It's hard to explain, but I know something's here and I don't know what."

He was right. The more he stood here speaking with us, the more whatever was watching grew upset. I scanned the room, but it hid itself well. Whatever it was though, it made me uneasy. Ginger must have noticed the way it made my skin crawl, her eyes darting down to me for a moment before focusing back on Dakota.

"Well," she tucked her pen behind her ear. "Why don't you and I step outside for a moment and I'll get Asher to take a look around."

Dakota hesitated, his fingers working themselves around the fabric of his blue jacket. "Alright." He glanced at me. "Thanks."

I waited as Ginger led him out the way we came, leaving me alone in the living room. As soon as the two of them had gone, the air shifted, thickening with malice and dread.

"You think you can get rid of me?"

I whirled towards the sound right behind me. Perched on the back of the couch was the shadowy figure of a cat. It's too-long tail stood straight up as it stood, long legs ending in claws that gripped the upholstery.

It's mouth moved out of sync with it's words. "This is between me and him." It, she, bared ivory teeth. "He belongs to me and always will and there's nothing you can do about it."

I stared, trying to figure out what it was that growled down at me. It radiated fear and tension and panic like a demon would, but something about it didn't make sense. It wasn't corporeal, but it could still seem to speak through the air as plain as day. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I swallowed. Whatever this was, it was dangerous.