They can't come in. The salt at every widow sill, the salt in the girt of the back door and salt underneath the door frame of each room. Bedrooms are safe spaces that the invisible weirdos aren't allowed in unless you say they can. My brother although now with ribbon on his eyes, still welcomed the small imp his made friends with. Not seeing isn't knowing they are still there. Gladly none of them seem scary but she doesn't hold her breathe at such bet. In the safety of shaded salt room, she has been ignored and able to watch them silently. She never speaks up of the changes they cause. Those that can enter the front door, aren't of bad intentions. Making impoverishment in minor things like the tap is clearer today or that really hard to reach box is lowered from its spot. But why these small things and things that often go unnoticed. What significance does a small change like that mean? At least the loo roll moved close make sense. Move of vomit bags at strategic reachable locations of higher use chances. But what do these folks get for improvement to the living? What is paying their wages?
She certainly noticed how more observing they can be, even to the point of being weird about it. If she was watching the living room TV of basic channels she can access, they are watch her expressions as she watched it. They seem not to be able to watch the TV screen as normal people do. The attempt was made when no one seems to be in the room. Clicking the remote and trying to poke the screen for changes.
Maybe their eyes work differently. Just as she sees them and people not her family don't. Like the mail man in his van. He like a free bus ride for them. She can't write or read but she makes her own drawings of things she wanted noted of. Like the TV. eye looks at TV but TV has cross through. Eye looks at person. These drawing don't have sense to them and she hide then within colouring books of normal drawings. She still quiet young and doesn't have a handle of shapes and detail. But these things she knows are there, she knows she can read them. She doesn't want her free drawing to caught attention of the adults either. Grandpa warned that she be taken away if she told them or show signs of seeing things. They have accepted that her brother has an invisible bad influence as a friend but they think he will grow out of it. Besides, now he can't see his imp friend - his been blaming her for moving his stuff. She doesn't go to his room because of the imp knows she and him could see before that Saturday. She doesn't want to be freind with the same imp.
That imp has bad ideas. Like burning the black widow with hair spray. The spider will survive burning and chase you while still on fire. She believes the imp assumes she blind like them and has tried to test her unsuccessfully. These invisible strangers like pushing the edge of being noticed and not. She can be drawing her notes in a colouring book and there that guy stood over shoulder.
But is these the same people day to day. No. They aren't even the same people by the hour. In pairs and no speaking words out loud unless it was dire important. Such as hiding from my aunt. She can't see but she is very sensitive of them. She will pin point them in a room, not sure how yet.
It been two Saturdays at Grandpa's since the potatoe imp accident. Her uncle was sick as she is, maybe worse The move of vomit bags had been a benefit for her uncle in equal measure. No school in that time but being locked in the hot house alone has been the only choose of the matter. She dares not to go outside while everyone that she can touch is gone. But she been well perched at the back door watching the wildlife. Birds that came to perch on the garden furniture. The little gekos eating bugs. Bugs eating bugs. A raccon in the trash. Nothing scary like bear or snake. Snake at the front door as been a lovely help. It rattles tail if it sensed threat. She has already draw that the snake can detect them invisible people but it shake tail a different amount.
Today watching the back door was more then she bargains for as a big strong version of the imp was fighting a wing man. They spill blood all sorts of places and nearly smashed the garden table. She not should how the fight ended as big hand from under the back garden decking took them both. Whatever that was. It is significantly scary and stronger than the horns and wings. For a first time, she doesn't need to draw that. It maybe better to never talk about that thing under the deck. She can at least rely on nature to be scary. That there is always scary and scarer things. She moved away from the door for the rest of the day. She had breaks for bathroom visits or for a head hung over a bucket. She can't help to continue to feel worse and worse.
At somepoint, she been drawing in her colouring books and felt waved of sleepy take over. She felt cold in this raising heated house.
"Leaves a child under aged and unsupervised." The voice slides her colouring book from under her, "So you are already trying to work things out." She scrunched up as her stomach area aches, she can feel different parts in her. She can't stop making strange noises there.
"The Fallowns in this lot aren't with the society but they do still have ability to detect." A soft hand brushed her back, "Like her uncle, they both been tainted in the imps blood. He going to live through it but there no telling with her." She coughed and then sits up. Kindness to have the vomit bucket close for her. Pat her back as she sick. She eyes are a little hazed in teary but she can tell that one is with grey wings and the other guy is black clothing. The black clothing guy has long white straight hair, has been brushing her drawing up a while. The wing person smiles at her. She back under for a little bit. Soft back pats.
"The snake at the front door can sense us." The long white hair spreads as he showed her colouring book, "She quiet observant and wonders why of basic things. Like why we can't see the TV. She noticed there five different types, so far." He flicked through her other pages, even ones she not draw yet. But in his hands, thise pages are full. She can see what she will do. He felt each page and it changes in slow fade if adding or removing bits. Like the outcomes of her drawings kept differing. He seems a little stiffly afraid of the page she choose not to draw, but there is was exactly as she would have done it. The wing and horn guys fighting and a bigger thing took them. He wipes the page and this next version was crossing the big hand. A few pages were blank from there. With eventually a page covered in pen doodles, she doesn't use pen at this age. But this page was doodle of a girl singing at the deck, there a second set of song notes. Those notes in pencil and were erased. He tries one last time but it was messy. He puts the book down.
"Say... I can tell that you can hear us. You can see." The wing person brushed her hair out her eyes, "When did that happen?"
"The fight?" She was quiet dry and that didn't sound well. She coughed dry in a splutter for a moment. A glass of water is given to her, "Thank you for this water... what did you really want to know?" She asked softly and has a few sips. This water has no funny additional tastes about it. But it did ting a glittery way as she spoke honest. She thinks about how pretty that is and weird for water to do that. The wing person waved haves in front of her and she focused again.
"OK..." The angel hummed, "This thing is going to change her life for sure."
"That we got the eye witness to tell us where they are?" The undertaker huffed, "Whereever, the hand that took them came from. It has the missing objects. Maybe even the missing books and blades from lost in action reapers." She heard this term in both normal people and these lot. There is a unified definition that reaper means death god. She seen death gods, death has many shapes and faces. Normal people thing it's all one big entity who is death. In what she seen, death god is a job title. They even complain like workers in under paid job. Except for the scray versions of death, they come for bears and pumas. Or important people get a special death god. Important doesn't always mean they were good.
The wing person waves at her face again. She been lost in sleepy thought.
"How about we make a deal, you and me." She frowns at this from the wing person.
"The horn ones do deals. Does that mean your grey wings makes you one them horn ones?" The wing person before her forwned and makes a sharp stare to the black clothed guy.
"She got you." The guy laughed in a weird way, at least for her it doesn't sound human. Although these folks don't breath and they speak occasionally without moving lips. Especially to each other, no sound but they are talking. They doing it right in front of her but she can't hear what they are saying in these stares.
"I am not going to make any promises but I will do a favour if you can do some for me." The black clothed guy says, "The things we are looking for are highly important and those two that were fighting are key to such things." She sips that colour changing water because she feels like it make her tummy better.
"Nature is scary. There always something more dangerous each time I look." She scrunched up at the floor, holding that water close. She can feel the cold of it in how she liked that feeling. She sense she felt cold, "I am afraid of what would consider that thing something to eat."
"And that it ate an angel and demon wasn't scary a thought enough?" The wing person here huffed, "How child come up with such terrifying things?" Punched in the arm as she learnt how to name the difference. Wings folks must be angels, angels work for gods, god and heaven. Demons are the horned ones. But clearly this wing being is a demon, demons can pretend to be to good to be true - a saying used a lot. If they are trying to sell something to good, then it must be fake. Nothing in life was free or just handed to you without some strings attached.
"Don't go to the back yard. You be sprayed everywhere too." She mutters, "It's my trade since you taught me something new. I can't give you anything else. You be in danger or you put me in danger. I don't want to be taken away." The soft nods of these guys and the wing guy leaves. She sees that a black feather bird watches the wing man. She frowns, "He going to die." The fella in black laughed at such nonsense. That same weird sounding laugh. It cuts as he looked from where the wing man was last. She tugs at their clothing and shook. She doesn't want this nice person gone too. She hold tight in fearing for them. She doesn't want to be alone. He fights her grip and easily got her off. In the short tussle, what remained of a large bird like wing spattered in a flump at the back door. The wings twitched in motioned convulsions without them attached to the rest of a body.
"It be rude to ignore a gift from a cat but you must not go there. You be..." She drily argued of the guy. She not sure where she got the idea that the thing under the decking was feline like but she had cats plenty of times in her life. It wasn't the first time gifts as left at the back door. But now it makes sense what left them. Now that the winged demon is a chew toy, correctly stated as dying by her.
"If you can fetch the things the demon asked for, then I will keep your secret. I will even watch over you until your old enough." She gives a worried look. Then again she has broken the one thing grandpa told her not to do. Which was to interact with these people. Clearly these missing items from missing people is important.
"I will get things but it will take a while. I am not allowed outside alone. I don't want to be attacked by a wild cat, bear or raccon. Them coyotes are scary dogs." She weakly stood and they walked together to the back door, "You might as well take those in the meantime. I will each visit have something to return. Will that work for you?" She asked a little dazed in trying to look.
"It will have to." He huffed. She unlocked the back door and steps outside. She gives her voice a little clear.
"Ooh, just look at this amazing present someone left us. Such clever cat." She exclaims very loud and steps right up to the wings, "Such beautiful colours." She finds a way to get a hold of them and drags them to the back door, "I will come play in the back garden more. I love shiny stuff. Maybe we go stone picking like always." She already does that and her best finds always go missing. So maybe this was it exchanging them. She heard nothing particularly and began to hum happy sounding. Which follows that she can hear someone echoing her. Meaning it knew hums. She gets to safety and now the guy of black took the wings. He picked a feather and puts it to her hair. She smiles and gentle closed the back door still humming. She goes back to the living room and attempts to weakly clean up things better. Especially the bucket needing tipping away. The man in black clothing with those wings goes away now. She is properly alone. The imp that was her brothers freind is gone. A stone left behind. She pockets the stone. She goes back to colouring book and daze on looking through it again. She thinks about why it looked so different each time that guy brushed it. She can't do that.
The clock nearby chimes and the front door was clattered of someone unlocking it. She sits at the floor with the bucket. The glass of water she has isn't a cup anymore but a sealed bottle, so she pocketed it.
"Whose home?" Her brother throws his bag hard and stomps.
"HI brother. It's just me." She barely managed that much and he rushed over. He checked her temperature, "Everyone was working but uncle left to shop. His not been back." He picked her up and takes it to the bathroom. Check the tub for crawly freinds then helped her into it. Even if she fully dressed. He got the cold water running. She could not complain nor does it seem all that bad. He left her and comes back with a drink. Makes her drink it. It wasn't just water. He added salt and sugar to it. It helped her fight the sleepiness. She doesn't think there was much wrong.
"Have you gone to the potty today?" He tests her forehead again.
"Not really. I clean out the bucket four times. It got heavy each time." He rushed to the bucket and the toilet that she been dumping. He comes back at her side holding her hand, "You're invisible freind is gone. I couldn't find anyone. There was two invisible adults but the backyard ate the wing man. I think that dark one left." She whispered, "I have been alone singing most of today. Can't do much." She frowns, "I couldn't even do our chores." He frowns with a strong grip as she sluggishly nearly went to sleep. He keeps her awake and takes about other things. Anything to keep her awake. Makes her drink the salty sugar water. Waiting for any adult at all. Worried. This is rhe best he can do until them. He knows just calling the phone for help will get everyone in trouble. Her uncle should have stayed home, but his not here. That's the big problem. If the police get involved, they will take them both away. Or worse. He knows but she doesn't. He knows there are worst family that they be forced to live with. He promised grandpa that they wouldn't go to them. Grandpa can't take them. That would have been more ideal otherwise.