Something Strange

“Can you see the man?”

“What man? I see no man,” her mother whispered back, scrunching her eyes as he looked in the direction of the church.

She turned towards the church, and the man was gone.

“He was just there! I promise!”

Her mom looked at her frowning for a second before her smile came back.

Like an invisible magnet was pulling her gaze back to the church, she turned away from the mansions to gaze admiringly at the marble. There was a large cemetery stretching lengths behind the cathedral, and it took up most of the town square. "What a weird place to put a cemetery," she mumbled under my breath as my eyes scanned the many gravestones. Though, she guesses it was behind a church.

"Is this it?" Fiona asked eagerly when her mother pulled to a stop in front of an old Victorian house. She gazed up in awe at the two-story manor.

The manor was on the corner of the street, and lush green grass swept the front yard and around the side. Gray, stone steps lead from the driveway to the wooden front door. The porch was quaint and rather small for the size of the house with a few stone pillars holding a terrace above it. The giant outcrop of bay windows running its length made up for it. The outside alone took her breath away, she was almost too afraid to look at the interior.

✿

Fiona was too busy staring at the intricate designs that were carved into the bricks to pay much attention to what her mother was saying. They looked like prehistoric words or symbols from a dead language. Her fingers traced softly over the delicate designs, shivers running down her spine.

That's when she heard it.

Well, she wasn't sure what it was, but it sounded like a soft, gentle lull brushing against her ears. She turned fully expecting to see someone standing behind them, but there was no one there. The noise came again, though this time it was more of a pulse pushing against her than a sound. She stepped away from the car and walked towards the noise.

"Fiona? You okay?" she barely heard her mother ask as started walking in the opposite direction from where we were heading. "Fiona?"

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" her mother asked.

But she didn't answer her, she couldn't. Her mind had completely focused on that sound. She was headed towards an outcrop of trees and her mother followed her.

"Fiona? baby, you're scaring me. I don't want to go in there-"

"Sorry mom" Fiona breathed out the bubble of tension that had swamped her chest.

First the dream, then the weird noise dragging her to those trees? She had enough excitement for one day.

"Let's head back now mom. I'm getting hungry."

They turned around but still, her eyes flickered back to the trees, with their weird, commanding noises. She had a sick feeling this place was going to have a lot more excitement than she thought.

✿

The sun had begun to sink, and darkness was making an entrance when Fiona and her mother finally managed to complete setting up their bedroom. She slumped on the comfortable alcove by the window as she heaved out a sigh of relief. She had a feeling this part of the room would be her favorite. Her mother did give her the room with the best view. She could see the church from most of the windows here. But the best view was provided by the window by the bench and the full glassed walls where she decided to place her two tiny sofas. The brilliant thing about this was that there were bookshelves around the bench. It was the perfect spot for reading. Her mother's bedroom was on the first floor and the kitchen and her bedroom were on the second. This was paradise compared to their old wooden house. The balcony outside her room was the cherry on top.

Fiona and her mother spent the rest of the day unpacking. She was almost done setting up her room when her mother walked in.

"We all deserve the beauty of a new beginning. We all deserve to forgive our past mistakes so that we can move forward once more. Letting go is a deep, misty, and winding road of inner reflection. It is a brave journey, so appreciate and celebrate each small, tentative step you take forward. So my beautiful daughter, go to bed, you have to wake up early for school We'll finish up tomorrow"

"Yes momma"

"That's my girl," her mother kissed her on her forehead, "Goodnight. Sweet dreams."

"Good night momma."

Turning to look at the church once more, Fiona opened the window wide open. Bright lights now illuminated half of the church windows and grounds. The other half, however, still stood in darkness because of its little usage, perhaps. It made sense. That church seemed big enough for a thousand people or more. Still, though, seeing the soft glow of the church against the slightly bluish-gray color of the skies made it look magical.

Fiona closed the window shut. After opening the other window near the couch, she paced to the bathroom. Moving towards the shower, she realized she had left her essentials behind. Shaking her head as a chuckle passed her lips, she slowly walked out into her bedroom once again but stopped when she noticed the curtains from the window flew in one direction very strangely.

She stopped in her steps. The image of the curtains flowing in one direction shot up in her mind again. They were flowing in one direction as if something had just rushed past them.

Her eyes widened, and she looked around her empty room. Suddenly feeling stupid she dismissed the idea in her head.

“Fiona, you’re an idiot,” she muttered under her breath while she went over to her untouched suitcases. Grabbing onto the bag with her body washes: shampoos, conditioners, and scrubs, she walked into the bathroom and set everything up.

Feeling her muscles ache with the day’s work and travel, she groaned as she turned the main lights off and turned on the string lights around the room before grabbing the clothes and marching into the bathroom. A bubble bath was very much in order. She made her way out of the bathroom, all scrubbed and brushed, clad in tiny boxer shorts and a tank top. Unwrapping the towel from her wet hair, she gave her hair a final rub and hung the towel on the towel hanger before padding her way toward her bed.

But didn’t even notice the man standing by her window, wearing a black shirt and gray trousers, never moving his gaze from her. And she surely didn’t notice the faint whisper when he simply frowned and said,

“Mine.”