08: The Pool Under Starlight

Nothing good happens after dark.

Downstairs, I slip past the common area and the smell of coffee. It smells fresh; someone’s up working late. I do my best not to be seen. Conversation will wake up Helen, and I promised to be quiet.

Outside, there’s a warm wind blowing through the village, and deep clouds overhead predicting a storm. Whatever wandering I do, I need to be quick about it.

I think about phasing somewhere, but I can’t think of where I’d go, so instead I walk along the river, taking the extended route toward the only cafe that’s open at night. The girl attending the bar there never speaks, which is a convenient trait this evening. She waves, and I wave back, and I point out a pastry in the display case, and she wraps it up for me.

I sign with my hands – “thank you” – and she smiles, goes back to what she was doing when I came in. I take my wrapped up pastry outside and sit at a table.

“You made it back,” an unfriendly voice says from out in the dark. “That was quicker than I expected. Some of us were taking bets that you’d be lost for a full week.”

“Hi Amethyst.” I narrow my focus to the apple-stuffed pastry in front of me. “Nice to see you too.”