Beneath the whispers

Chapter 20

The bright morning sun above the town rests on the roofs of the tiny houses. Their shadows resting on the paths and the tall trees scattered in the town created some shade for the narrow path that broke into the houses.

I didn’t notice the old woman return from the farm last night. When I open my eyes, Tony is pacing the hut with one hands wrapped around his chin and the other crossed below its elbow

I stretch my hands from the floor mat humming and turning on the bed till I hear the satisfying sound of my joints snapping back to form – I will never get used to this. My sleepy eyes rest on him and I frown a little “what are you so agitated about?”

He stops pacing hurrying toward me and sits on the edge of the mat “Mrs. storyteller didn't come back last night” my lids burst open

I know I didn’t hear her come in but I still did not expect her to not be home all night, in the normal circumstance I wouldn’t be so intrusive but here there are a lot of things to worry about - like the shadows

“what?” I finally say, I search his face for any hint of a joke. Hoping this counts for one of his big old dirty pranks

“I don't know why? But she hasn't shown up since she left” he continues, surprisingly calm “did you hear anything last night?” he asks.

I rub the tiny headache off the sides of my head with my fingers “I don't think so, if anything I would have woken up” I say, trying to run a quick check through my memory

“I am not much of a deep sleeper too” he adds. we look at each other and then at the curtain as if the woman would stroll in and laugh the shit out at us.

I stand up from the mat to leave but stop by the sound of his voice “I checked outside too, but she is nowhere near”

“Do you know where her farm is?” How is he supposed to know that?

He nods negatively “another thing we don't know is why she would leave for her farm by that time”

“We need to look for her or her farm - at least find a clue as to what happened to her” I say

“it could be the shadows”

“yet she didn't scream?”

“or she slept somewhere else when her coal ran out”

“Either way, we need answers, it's too late in the morning for her to yet be out” I finalize.

We step out, wandering from house to house, getting doors slammed at our faces and watching the citizens fidget just by the description of the mansion. We didn’t find any of the kids on this side of the town neither could we grasp any information relating to the mansion, family, and all – worst of all we couldn’t find the only woman that cared enough to open up to us.

What seems like hours later. I sigh in frustration, stopping my gaze on the hills at the far end and then at the rod-twisted gate I had entered from

The thing is, I had only heard that we couldn't leave this town border but we had never tried to and I am literally just realizing that getting out of this town is not just the major issue since there is a lot of lands and an ocean between us and any signs of life.

“Whatever you are thinking, don't do it” Tony’s deep voice snaps me right out of my thoughts, and I notice I was staring at the gate. I chuckle nervously turning my gaze in his direction. He wasn’t looking at me anymore so I followed his gaze to a field some miles from the gate “that looks like a farm right?” He asks

I squeeze my face, using my hands to cast a shadow on my eyes – yet again the trauma of not taking the freaking black sunglasses. “I think so” I respond, the plants were arranged in rolls each plant to a section – nature cannot pull that. I almost add

We started walking towards the farm “She dropped it there” Tony's voice interrupts me. I follow his pointed finger to the floor. The woman's coal tin is on the floor and the coal inside had splashed all over the floor, a string of fading smoke erupts from a few clustered together.

The ones scattered were black and cool enough to be fisted into my hands. The woman must have dropped them, if I was a detective I might be able to tell how long the burning coal was left. Though it was long enough for them to stop burning but then there is this aspect of the night breeze and also the gust the shadows operate with.

“This is just outside the farm” Tony says slightly hitting the tin with his boots and it rolls over spilling more coal to the floor. A few feet away was a bunch of wood cut into fist-sized cubes and arranged like a mini hill beside a huge pot which was obviously cooking something from the flames that oozed out of the pit the pot rested on.

The gate was nowhere near - wait a minute, had we walked that long? I chuckled in disbelief watching Tony climb the cluster of sand beside the pot to get a glimpse. He peeps for some minutes, probably trying to figure out what the contents are

“the charcoal is made here” a voice with an accent says from behind, another woman ridden with age just like the rest of them - did this shadow thing really have a thing for youth? Speaking of youths, those kids must have not returned.

Dragging air into my lungs and then out I turn to the woman who walks past me before I fully turned so I watch her slowly head to the pot. “we leave the coal at the tunnel just by the hotel before sundown so you can get some there” the woman forces a smile but her eyes couldn't hide the pity ridden in them.

“do you know if the shadows attacked last night?” Tony attempt to step down from the sand “we are looking for someone, old” he says

The woman cackles and pauses “we are all old” she started humming something and looks back at us for a long minute then sighs “I didn't hear anything, and the shadows don't take the old”

“Maybe they were worried she had so much information to dispense?” I thought aloud.

The woman suppresses a laugh, “demons do not think like that. let the wood cook and get it at the tunnel later” after her last word she turns and strolls away from us into the farm still humming whatever it is she was humming.

I roll my eyes and squat, feeling the coal that spilled from the tin as if it was going to tell me where the woman was.

“We could have asked her about the mansion, she seemed friendly… unlike every single person in this village,” I say with regret. Looking up at Tony struggling to get down without a nasty scratch

“do you know one place the shadows will keep anyone they take?” I continue, watching him dust himself with his shirt. I rise slowly fixing my gaze on him – there is only one place the shadows are likely to take their captive and it is the very mansion at the outskirts

“Bella don't - we barely survived” Tony is nodding negatively

“and we will if we have enough burning coal” I continue

“We don’t know a thing about those things and how exactly they work, I am not game for going there again unless we go back and develop an actual plan”

he finalizes

I raise my brows but he waves me off with a tired eye roll releasing a breath so I drop them slowly – I cannot go there alone either way. But then –

“it wasn't the shadows!” I gasp after the words slip right out of my thoughts confusing Tony

“Why would you – the coal tin is still intact and oozing smoke” his face lit up

“And with the force of their wind, that is not possible”

The sound of a branch snap from behind pulls our attention behind me, the grass moves and someone launches out, breaking into a sprint and disappearing into the farm. Tony sprints after the runner and without thinking I chase after them.

The runner gave us a good chase into the cluster of tall trees swiftly leaping over protruded roots and his feet thud the moist soil so fast. surprisingly Tony moves with the same energy and I am left struggling to meet up before my aching lungs give up

Minutes later we are in another section of the farm, with weak plants scattered around a few huge trees that didn’t cover much of the sun. The runner sprints faster, raising loose earth from the friction between his old-looking sandals and the farm’s dark soil

I am gasping and trying to pick up my speed too but my efforts fizzle away because my legs are now slow and heavy.

Tony doesn't stop until I could barely see him – that’s it, I give up! I stop running, crashing on my knees and panting. I manage to find a tree large enough to carry my weight, hopefully, I didn’t have to crawl much.

I lean on the trunk and close my eyes. My lungs ached and drew gulps of air and yet I still could barely see clearly.

From the body, that person was young and if the shadows didn't take the woman then someone must have and the convenience of the fact that he had to be listening to us at that time explains it all. He took her, whoever it was.