Status: Updates are sporadic and may occur at whim, but I do try to add chapters regularly.
Silent Nights
Lights
I pull the door open and scan the driveway for movement. In the dim moonlight everything looks still, so I slip outside and descend the three wooden steps. Gravel crunches under my boots as I take a few steps down the driveway.
“What are you doing?” Drew calls quietly. I glance back over my shoulder and see him standing on the top stair with his flashlight pointed at the ground. Without answering, I take a few steps down the driveway, between the truck and the house, to where it curves toward the road. “Sara, wait.” Drew jogs up behind me and touches my shoulder.
“I didn’t finish looking around earlier,” I say, stepping out of reach. I continue down the driveway, and he follows along beside me. I sigh when I realize he means to accompany me. “You have to turn that off,” I whisper, tapping the flashlight in his hand. He clicks the light off and we both stop at the corner of the house, waiting for our eyes to adjust to the darkness.
“What are we doing?” Drew asks after a minute. I squint at the driveway and decide this is as good as my night vision will get.
“The light was showing around the window earlier,” I explain. I adjusted the blankets over the window when I was upstairs, but I want to make sure it’s light tight. “It was too easy to see it from a distance.”
“I meant about the girl,” Drew says softly.
“Oh.” I step around the corner of the house and cross to the grass alongside the driveway, following the same path I took earlier. Drew falls into step behind me, and I grudgingly ignore him. As long as he doesn’t get in the way, I don’t much care if he’s here. And as long as he’s quiet.
I focus on the sounds around us, concentrating to hear past the noises we’re making. I reach the end of the path I’d trampled less than an hour ago and forge into the undisturbed grasses. When we get close to the main road I turn around to look back at the house. I can’t see the light around the upstairs window anymore. Satisfied that one problem at least has been solved, I lower my gaze to look over the rest of the yard. It’s not until the second pass that I notice Drew is still facing me. On closer inspection I realize he’s looking past me at the road.
“What?” I whisper. He glances at me and takes a step forward. He’s close enough now that I can see him squinting at something. I turn around next to him and scan the road. It doesn’t take long to figure out what he’s spotted. We take a few steps closer, both squinting now.
“What is that?” he breathes. There’s a faint speck of light several yards down the road. I wonder how long it’s been there, because I never got close enough to the road earlier to see it past the trees that line the opposite side of the driveway. The light is no more than a pinprick from this distance, not flickering or moving, at least as far as I can tell.
“I don’t know,” I say. My first thought is ‘flashlight’, but it’s so low to the ground. Did someone drop it there? I take another step closer, but Drew’s arm shoots out to block me.
“What are you doing?” Drew calls quietly. I glance back over my shoulder and see him standing on the top stair with his flashlight pointed at the ground. Without answering, I take a few steps down the driveway, between the truck and the house, to where it curves toward the road. “Sara, wait.” Drew jogs up behind me and touches my shoulder.
“I didn’t finish looking around earlier,” I say, stepping out of reach. I continue down the driveway, and he follows along beside me. I sigh when I realize he means to accompany me. “You have to turn that off,” I whisper, tapping the flashlight in his hand. He clicks the light off and we both stop at the corner of the house, waiting for our eyes to adjust to the darkness.
“What are we doing?” Drew asks after a minute. I squint at the driveway and decide this is as good as my night vision will get.
“The light was showing around the window earlier,” I explain. I adjusted the blankets over the window when I was upstairs, but I want to make sure it’s light tight. “It was too easy to see it from a distance.”
“I meant about the girl,” Drew says softly.
“Oh.” I step around the corner of the house and cross to the grass alongside the driveway, following the same path I took earlier. Drew falls into step behind me, and I grudgingly ignore him. As long as he doesn’t get in the way, I don’t much care if he’s here. And as long as he’s quiet.
I focus on the sounds around us, concentrating to hear past the noises we’re making. I reach the end of the path I’d trampled less than an hour ago and forge into the undisturbed grasses. When we get close to the main road I turn around to look back at the house. I can’t see the light around the upstairs window anymore. Satisfied that one problem at least has been solved, I lower my gaze to look over the rest of the yard. It’s not until the second pass that I notice Drew is still facing me. On closer inspection I realize he’s looking past me at the road.
“What?” I whisper. He glances at me and takes a step forward. He’s close enough now that I can see him squinting at something. I turn around next to him and scan the road. It doesn’t take long to figure out what he’s spotted. We take a few steps closer, both squinting now.
“What is that?” he breathes. There’s a faint speck of light several yards down the road. I wonder how long it’s been there, because I never got close enough to the road earlier to see it past the trees that line the opposite side of the driveway. The light is no more than a pinprick from this distance, not flickering or moving, at least as far as I can tell.
“I don’t know,” I say. My first thought is ‘flashlight’, but it’s so low to the ground. Did someone drop it there? I take another step closer, but Drew’s arm shoots out to block me.