Amid twisted shadows that seemed to extend from every tree and a thin layer of chilling mist that permeated the air, a girl's soft voice broke through; seemingly indifferent to how her singing pierced the deafening silence of the gloomy forest she was in. "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down..."
The short red curls that swayed with each of her cheerful steps stood out in stark contrast to the tones of black and gray that seemed to reign over the surroundings. A pair of green eyes, brimming with curiosity and carefree joy, hid part of their playful sparkle behind a pair of round glasses with thin dark frames. "London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady."
Standing no more than five foot three, and with a gait betraying her lack of physical fitness, the girl continued her way through the forest, occasionally ducking to avoid a tree branch. Her breath, which left a visible trail due to the cold, became slightly more irregular when she had to jump over a large root or climb a small incline. Nonetheless, no matter how deep the footprints left by her boots on the muddy ground became, and no matter how much she had to exert herself to keep moving forward, the girl never lost the cheerful momentum with which she began her journey.
The low temperature and humidity in the air certainly took their toll, forcing a slight blush to appear on her cheeks. Her face leaned more towards being adorable and cute rather than beautiful and provocative. Guided by the scant moonlight that managed to penetrate the clouds filling the night sky, the girl continued her path without noticing a strange shadow gliding through the treetops. The slow progress of the deliberately silent shadow somehow, almost supernaturally, kept pace with the girl, always lurking hidden, never getting too close.
This status quo remained for at least another ten minutes until the girl reached her destination. For reasons only she could understand, the girl's destination, having endured an exhausting nighttime walk through a forest that could not be described with any adjective other than spooky, was an old but well-maintained cemetery. Ignoring that she was in what could well be the introduction to a horror movie, the redhead in question removed the small backpack she carried on her back. After loosening a couple of straps and opening the backpack to reach its contents, the girl took out one tool after another with practiced movements.
With what seemed like gardening tools in both hands, the girl got to work, weeding the graves, using scissors to cut and then remove the climbing plants that clung to the tombstones. Slowly but steadily cleaning any advances that nature and decay had made on the small cemetery. Meanwhile, the shadow that had been stalking all this time made its presence known once more, this time breaking the invisible barrier that had kept it at bay, taking advantage of the girl's full focus on what was in front of her.
Descending through the extensive and withered branches of the trees with an incorporeal presence, unaffected by the obstacles that should have obstructed its path, the increasingly visible and present shadow descended with supernatural silence. Finally revealed by the scant moonlight that pierced the thin canopy covering the cemetery, the shadow took the form of a woman whose face remained hidden behind a cascade of pitch-black hair. A deteriorated but immaculately white dress covered the woman's body, only deepening the sense of incongruity that her entire presence emitted.
Although barely perceptible, the light seemed to dim around the woman in white. And as she approached the redhead who remained oblivious, using the brush in her hand to clean the dirt trapped in the tombstone's engravings, the temperature dropped enough for the girl's breath to become even more visible. With her face still hidden by her dense, dark hair, the woman in white managed to convey with her mere presence what she represented: Silence, cold, and death. And when a pale hand emerged from the white sleeves of her dress towards the redhead, the silence finally met its end as a prolonged female voice in an unnatural whisper escaped the black veil of hair. "Kaaaaaath."
Hearing her nickname, the redheaded girl with glasses, or Kath as her few friends called her, carelessly ignored the spectral tone of the voice calling her. And it wasn't surprise or fear that inhabited her green eyes when she turned to face the supernatural figure behind her, but recognition. "Oh, hello Olivia, did I wake you?" With the same hand she had extended towards Kath, the spectral figure, apparently named Olivia, brushed part of the hair away from her face, revealing her pale visage while exposing the cut marks on her wrist. Now partially covered, a young face with a subdued expression replied to Kath. "You shouldn't have come, you know full moon nights are dangerous."
Although her face lacked any emotional expression, something in her guttural voice still conveyed the exasperation of the ghostly figure. Kath, for her part, rolled her eyes in response. "You keep saying that, but nothing ever happens. Sure, you're a bit more creepy, and it's a bit colder around you, but that's it, so unless you plan to hug me to death, I don't see the danger." Having said that, Kath turned back around and finished cleaning the engravings on the tombstone she had been working on. "Besides, I plan to be home before midnight. As much as I like you, you get extra, extra creepy when the clock strikes twelve." Without turning around, Kath let that comment reach her counterpart.
"You don't understand. On full moon nights, I feel less like myself, less in control." As if not bothered at all by being called creepy, Olivia ignored such comments and insisted on her point. Showing a stubbornness that contradicted her slightly childlike and adorable appearance, Kath replied. "The same thing as when it's midnight, and that's why it's a bad idea to combine both things, I know, Olivia. Look, I don't like being here in the middle of the night with all the cold that's happening, but I'll be busy the next few days, I had no choice but to come today." The dark abyss that was Olivia's only visible eye remained fixed on the girl in front of her, seeing beyond the physical, briefly hypnotized by the warmth and vitality that seemed so tempting on nights like this.
"You could have not come," Olivia replied, finally breaking her silence as her will overcame the impulses of the full moon. Kath remained silent, but her hands did not stop until, with a final touch of the brush in her hand, she completely cleaned the damp soil that had clung to the tombstone. Nodding in satisfaction to herself, Kath stepped aside and turned to face the only other person in this cemetery. "I didn't want you to be alone today." Behind her, Olivia Greenwood's name could be seen engraved on the tombstone, dated June 5, 2013, as the day of her death, along with the words "Beloved daughter and friend, may she find peace in the arms of the Lord."