Chapter Text
Smoke billowed behind her in the nonexistent wind. The skirt of the gown she wore seemed to be made of nothing but thick black smog. Normally the music playing in the air would simply remind her of… something, she couldn’t remember. Standing on the roof of the house, she looked up at the moon, letting its rays bathe her in silver light as she closed her eye. No, today the music playing from a small music box long destroyed would calm her. A sad smile graced her lips as she reminisced of names with no meaning, and faces too blurry to recognize.
Thick, black liquid rolled down her cheek from where her left eye should be. It couldn’t be helped, as the black void in her skull would continue to leak no matter what she did. As the music slowed and she took a deep, calming breath, the smoke began to calm and settle peacefully around her legs. She stood there for a while, opening her eye and staring into the distance, as if the starry sky would tell her where she should go and what she should do.
She heard a hatch open behind her, it had happened a few times before but it still made her jump, although she would refuse to admit it in favor of greeting the person or giving them a warm smile. Unfortunately, neither of those were an option as she stood unseen while the young boy climbed from the hatch and walked to the edge of the roof, sitting to watch the horizon lined with trees. She still wasn’t used to this, clenching her fingers around the porcelain mask in her hands. She hadn’t needed to use it yet thankfully, as she remained unseen. It was a simple mask, white, and in an oval shape to cover her whole face, with two eye holes in the shape of soft cornered parallelograms. A design that resembled a lacy black tear track went down from the left eye-hole.
She adjusted her hip length black hood. It was torn and frayed at the edges but she loved it and took good care of it throughout the years.
The young boy, Kane, as she recalled, sat at her feet beside her. Kane stayed silent as his gaze remained on the trees and the small animals that could be heard running around below. She had seen Kane running about through the woods with a girl who she presumed was his sister a few months ago.
She’d been living in the woods nearby for about a year and a half when she saw them playing and followed them home. Since then she’d been staying nearby to keep watch over the kids. They couldn't have been too much younger than her, but she wasn’t too old herself, still only a teen. She wasn't sure how aging worked now but she assumed she was older than 15 but younger than 25, which didn’t narrow it down by much but she was ok with that answer for the time being. A gentle breeze began to blow, causing the smoke to stir just a tad.
Kane closed his eyes and pulled his small yellow blanket tighter around him. The boy was around average height, or so she assumed considering she didn’t know his exact age. She was abnormally tall, around 6’10, so the top of his head reached just above her breastbone. The music stopped. Kanes short brown hair danced in the wind, he pulled out a small bag of gumdrops and started eating a few. It was peaceful, sitting there together, even if only one of them knew. He soon finished his gumdrops and began to climb down the roof onto a pile of firewood, keeping the blanket wrapped tightly around him.
She decided to follow him, simply jumping down from the roof and landing beside him, mask in hand.
They walked along a path through the forest, going up the mountain till they reached a cliff. He took out a camera and laid down like a sniper in the grass. She walked over carefully, making sure not to step on any dry leaves in case it would make a sound. The boy held on tightly to his camera, angling it down the cliff to get the perfect shot of a small group of foxes below, white muzzles glowing in the moonlight. It was truly beautiful, she thought, looking over Kanes shoulder at the photo he’d just taken. Kane stood as she backed up, not knowing what would happen if he were to bump into her. He looked at his camera, observing the photos he’d just taken with a light smile on his face. The breeze gently ruffling their hair. It really was a beautiful night, but then she heard it. The sound of earth crumbling as the ground gave in to gravity.