I dedicate this chapter to the awesome @VanessaApekey because we talked not long ago about our love for Desperate housewives, and this inspired me to write this little wink to our dear Bree! I hope you like my badass redhead too! Love you 😘💕

'The hardest part of leavin' is accepting all the reasons

That somehow we keep repeatin' endlessly

And the hardest part of leavin' is to hold the heavy breathin'

Back from showin' you how hard it is for me

To make it look so easy'

'The decadent youth', I could still hear the northern accent of the grandparents Duncan as I stood in front of that same wooden sign.

Actually, it may have been because I'd heard them all weekend, grumbling at the neighborhood kids and their 'dangerous' roller skates and complaining about the tattooed boys who had dared to go the same drugstore as them.

I wondered if the universe was trying to punish me for my lies. But no, it was just my parents, as even though they hadn't lifted my grounding yet, they had dragged me through a four hours trip to thank my grandparents for their 'generous birthday present', which I hadn't done last Sunday because I'd disappeared 'like an ingrate', in my mom's words.

However, it was indeed a generous gift, and with the money, I'd got a chocolate bar because I was starving, not having been able to have a second helping of Grandma's pie at lunch to keep my ladylike manners, although my growling stomach was even less elegant. The rest of the money would surely be spent here – how ironic was it?

'The decadent youth'! Maybe I was part of it. I had sneaked out of the house as soon as my dad had left for work, and I'd lied to my mom, pretending I had homework to not go to the neighborhood association with her. 

Instead, I'd come here. Well, I'd stopped by the cemetery to apologize properly for my lies. Yet I'd still made my way here after barely a few minutes seated in front of the gray stone, where I had almost heard his calm voice telling me to 'not waste my time crying and talking to dead people'. Grandpa had never liked cemeteries; he'd liked much more the kind of activities the sign indicated.

Okay, maybe it had also always been in the back of my mind, as I'd taken many detours and bus stops to arrive at this place, and now that I was here, I was still staring at the detailed engraving, eyeing the old metal door as hesitantly as last time.

Not much had changed in a week, and so much at the same time. Today, I'd put on blue capri pants to not rip another dress. The weather was gloomier, making me notice the large shadows from the thick woods, the red glow above a door in the opposite street, and the many vehicles in the small courtyard around: trucks, cars, and motorcycles, yet none of them familiar. 

Most importantly, the tiny changes were inside, as there wasn't a chaos of voices, overflow, and emptiness in my chest, just a dull ache, and apparently, also a little caterpillar wandering around my stomach and nibbling it little bites by little bites.

So I decided to enter before it could eat me whole.

Inside, everything was the same, the dim lighting, the counter, even the bearded man behind it, and the magazine in his hands. I could have believed I'd traveled back in time if it hadn't been for the recognition quickly replacing the surprise behind his glasses.

"Dorothy, right?"

He remembered my name? Was I this unforgettable? Probably, as I'd made a memorable entrance last time.

"Yes, hello, Pete." I offered him a small smile, advancing towards the counter with surely more manners than the last time.

"I have semi-automatic guns today! I give you one?"

"Oh, um, yes, please." I lifted my gaze to the shiny guns behind him.

The guns, that was why I was here for. Though they didn't attract my eyes as much as one week before as I quickly glanced around again.

"Are you feeling better?" I was pulled out of my daze, and the tall silhouette I pictured from my memories vanished as I turned back to Pete, who had already put the gun on the counter.

It wasn't an exceptional question, as I heard it too much these days, along with variations of 'are you okay?'. Yet from a stranger, it wasn't common, and the 'fine' I always used didn't reach my lips.

"Uh... I guess?"

"You look better." He shrugged, eyeing my perfectly white blouse, though the twinkle in his gaze was more leaning towards compassion than mockery, and it pulled a smile on my lips as I looked down at my outfit.

Even my curls were tamed today, and my hands weren't shaking as I slipped one of the bills out of my bag. Maybe it was a start, although I didn't try to dig too much into how I was feeling, my fingers already going for the gun.

"Oh, but it's an automat–"

Pete silenced me, pushing the gun in my hand before pretending to lock his lips like I'd done last week, and I laughed as the invisible key seemed to get lost in his gray beard. 

I understood why Blade had called him 'uncle'. If you looked past the imposing figure and thick beard, he was just a giant teddy bear, making you feel welcome like... family.

Like last time, he led me to a booth with a kind smile hidden in his beard, while I still whispered a 'thank you', or maybe two as he said,

"I'll get you a quieter booth. There's lots of people today."

Indeed, there were lots of gunshots echoing around, and even though I didn't mind the noise that guided the pace of my wounded heart, it was better if no one saw me. I wasn't supposed to be here, and a young lady shooting...

However, my gaze still roamed around, slowing down at every door we passed, especially the last one with a sign indicating 'Private'.

"Here." Pete pointed to the opposite door as we were already arrived.

"Um, Blade isn't here today?" I couldn't help the question tickling my lips, and maybe my guts too.

"No, not today."

The little caterpillar in my stomach seemed to have jumped because I could feel the drop there, taking down my smile with it.

"But I can tell him you were looking for him."

"Oh, no, no! I'm not... I was just asking." I stopped glancing around.

The room was the same as the other one: dark concrete walls, and all the equipment to shoot, just smaller, as there was just one booth, and no one around.

"It's okay," I added, focusing on putting my earmuffs and loading my gun to avoid that smile that wasn't hidden in his beard anymore and the knowing glint in his eyes.

No, I hadn't come here just to see him. It would have been ridiculous, and the proof was that my fingers were rushing to the gun, and my skin was already prickling in anticipation as I turned to the target.

It was all the pent-up emotions of the weekend, and the week, that had led me here. Yet I had to admit Blade had been the trigger that had decided me to sneak out, lie, and risk getting caught.

But now that I was here, it didn't matter, and I did what I was here for, shooting repeatedly and searching for the thrill to distract me from the rush of blood to my cheeks that would make my freckles flare up.

It worked once I'd fired all my bullets, at least, for a second.

"You're an exceptional shooter, indeed."

I snapped my head towards Pete as fast as the rush of warmth to my face. But he was already exiting the room, leaving me with his words ringing in my ears more than the gunshots, especially the last one. 'Indeed', it only meant one thing: he had heard about me, and this time, I didn't care about the heat tickling my cheeks, along with a smile and more curiosity.

***

Two shots, I'd missed two shots. This fact hit me more than the fresh air as I walked out of that same old creaky door.

I was seething, but I could only blame myself, as the gear was of incredibly good quality, and there had been no one to distract me. Maybe that had been the problem, as I'd found myself looking somewhere else than the target too many times.

I'd even stayed longer than I'd planned, praying that my dad wouldn't come back from work too soon. I didn't worry about my mom because she would probably be playing poker with her friends – all these housewives thought they could keep their weekly poker games a secret, but I knew it.

For what had I dawdled though? The thrill of adrenaline was already vanishing, replaced with shivers as I took in how long I'd stayed. The night had fallen, and although the many clouds and the shadows from the woods were making it impossible to guess if it was already time for the stars to light up, I knew it was too late, especially too late to take the bus.

My eyes trailed around one last time, yet there still wasn't any black and shiny motorcycle. I would have to walk, and I hugged myself as I quickened my pace. It was still May, and the fresh nights were here to remind us it wasn't Summer yet, and that my short sleeves weren't enough.

Though the chills on my exposed skin weren't only out of cold as I moved through the dark streets. 

The dimness and darkness weren't the most frightening, strangely. The dancing shadows from the woods behind, the obscurity of the alleys I passed by, and the eerie shapes of the gray buildings were already there when I'd come here under daylight. 

But it was the bright lights of a car passing by that made me jump, the illuminated windows of the bar letting glimpse tall silhouettes in what seemed a heated conversation and their voices resembling dogs barking that made me cross the road to the opposite sidewalk, and the spark of a lit cigarette on a figure – a woman, judging by the high heels she was stumbling on – walking a few feet away that made me tighten my grip on my bag.

It seemed that there were more people at night here than by day. Were they vampires? The tales I'd heard about the East Side weren't much better, and I tried to shake the scary echo of my mom's voice.

A few more turns, and I would be in more familiar streets. I could almost let go of the breath I was holding when the soft purring of a car coming closer and closer caught it all.

For the few seconds where I hopelessly sped up my stride and prayed it was just in my head and that the car would drive by – although I'd heard the brakes too clearly when it had made a U-turn –many questions crossed my mind. Where could I run? Should I ask for help at the closest door? How would I end up in the worst horror scenarios? And why had I come here in the first place?

But the car came to halt beside me before I could find any answer, and when I turned to the unmistakably blue car, another question appeared. Was it a good or bad sign?

The police could mean both depending on which side of the law you were standing, and recently, I may have stepped out a few times. Should I still run? 

The answer was yes, yet I realized it too late when the passenger door opened, and a familiar pair of eyes appeared behind it.

"Dorothy?! What are you doing here at this hour?!"

It was worse than any horror scenario.

"Raymond... hi."

I only had one objective: avoid anyone I knew, which should have been easy in this part of the town. But I'd forgotten that the universe was against me, and it had sent Raymond, Spencer's dad, and our closest neighbor.

If my parents knew, when my parents would know, I would never be able to leave my room, though did it really matter?

"I was walking home." I tried a small smile, but it did nothing to ease the deep frown above his eyes, and I recognized too well the look under. The last time I'd seen it had been when Spencer and I had accidentally broken a window with a ball in seventh grade, and we'd tried to pretend a bird had crashed in it.

However, after a 'humph', he sighed, "Come in, I'll drive you."

"Oh no, thanks, but it's okay. I don't want to bother you while you're working."

"You don't. My shift is almost finished." His frown gave way to a kind smile, yet his gaze stayed unfaltering as he continued, "And there's no way I'm letting you walk around by night. Come in."

It was my turn to sigh as I glanced around the streets, which were scarier the longer you looked at them. Yet, despite the shivers on my arms and the heaviness in my legs at the thought of the distance remaining to walk, I couldn't move towards the warm air emanating from the car door and the comfy seat Raymond was patting.

It was like there was a gulf between us, and it pulled on all my muscles as I resigned to get in under Raymond's patient yet unflinching gaze. 

I quickly understood what it was when I leaned in to sit and my eyes landed on a particular detail. I jumped away so fast that my head was spinning, although it was maybe just the image replaying again and again.

"I don't want to talk about Spencer."

Spencer, he was the gulf between Raymond and me, and it was clear when Raymond's rough features fell in a compassionate expression. 

Spencer was the reason why Raymond was like a second dad, sometimes more present than mine, and the last time I'd seen him was linked to Spencer too. It was one week ago.

"I promise I won't talk about him, if you don't want to." He heaved out another heavy breath, his tone being too serious compared to his usual playfulness. "I just want to make sure you're safe."

I took a hesitant step as I peered at Raymond's brown eyes. He was a man of honor, who always kept his words, like Spencer...

It seemed impossible to escape him, especially here, where the warm air held a hint of the same citrus smell as their house, and where he was in so many details like the keychain hanging from the ignition, which he'd made for a past Father's Day, and the picture of his mom and a younger him wearing one of his heart-melting grins, which was attracting my gaze irresistibly.

"Spencer who?" Raymond caught my attention, surely noticing that I was frozen with only one foot inside, and I was glad to find some familiarity in his joking tone. "I don't know any Spencer. Isn't it the dog of Mrs. Martin?"

I smiled, or at least, I did my best to, and got in, finally feeling the warmth engulfing my cold skin. "Thank you."

It wasn't only for the ride.

"Why were you out alone at such a late hour?" The light atmosphere had already fallen.

Raymond may have not been as strict as my parents, but he was still the sheriff, and I could sense his inquisitive gaze glancing at me.

I couldn't answer this question though, mainly because I didn't know the answer myself. I searched for a lie, an excuse, but I couldn't find any – either he was a really good policeman, or I couldn't lie when he was being so kind.

So I just stared at my lap, my fingers twiddling uselessly on top, and I hoped that after a while Raymond would make do with the awkward silence. Yet I should have known the quietness never lasted long around him.

"You know, things aren't always what they seem."

I jerked my head up, my eyes once more landing on the picture on the center console before I found Raymond's frown falling with a sigh.

"I'm not talking about what you think I'm talking about."

"What do you mean?" My eyebrows pulled together, and my hands stilled as I focused on his face, yet the glance he quickly threw me while slowing down at a crossroad held too many things, and he seemed to ponder too much before turning to the right.

The more the seconds passed, the less I was sure what I was thinking about, and although I didn't want the heart-rending pain of talking about Spencer, the possible meaning of his words felt even more wrenching in my guts.

"The streets aren't safe for a young lady like you at night."

Why did everyone have to talk so mystically? It didn't tell me anything more; on the contrary, each word appeared shadowed with a secret meaning, and I was once again in the dark with too many questions.

I opened my mouth to ask when the headlights of a car passing illuminated all the shadows on Raymond's face, and my words got lost.

I didn't know if I was ready for the answers if they were enough to darken Raymond's lightness, and I wouldn't get them anyway because as fast as the car's lights flashed away, he changed the subject.

"By the way, I've heard there's a meteor shower soon!"

Shooting star, I only took in how tensed my insides were by his previous warning as my stomach twisted a little bit more, and before a shadow of doubt could invade me, I shook it away.

"Yeah, next Saturday."

I didn't add anything as I wouldn't have a telescope to watch it by then, and I was currently contemplating other mysteries, trying to find out who, what he was talking about if it wasn't what I was thinking.

Yet Raymond seemed to carefully avoid my squinted eyes. I knew he was always careful while driving, but here, his gaze didn't flicker one second away from the road, although the streets were empty, and this left me to stare between the windshield and the photo still attracting my eyes.

My eyes traveled a few times between the two before they stopped in the middle. 

"Oh, you can drop me here. I'll walk for the rest." I pointed at the next crossroad, already glimpsing the cross of the familiar church.

"Haven't you heard what I said before?" His gaze came back to me this time, the same serious frown flashing for a second.

"But..." We weren't in the East Side anymore; it was there that the dangers were, at least, according to my parents and what everyone said.

'Things weren't always what they seemed.' Maybe it was really nothing of what I could ever think about, and it loosened some knots in my stomach and chest, only to tighten an entanglement in my guts. 

Raymond was back looking at the road, so I would never know, and I had other preoccupations as my gaze flicked to the clock.

"You're already late. Spencer is probably waiting for you."

If he took the turn he was putting his turn signal for, it was a one-way street, so he would have to make a detour, and the road to the bowling alley was still long.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about him?" The light was back in his eyes with a knowing twinkle, his cocked eyebrow accentuating the contrast with moments before, and I was the one to avert my eyes.

I hadn't even realized I was talking about Spencer; it was so natural. The truth was that I was avoiding him at all cost, when he was always in my thoughts, in the shards of my broken heart, and in all of me. It only hit me in this instant, under the knowing gaze of Raymond, and as I was twisting the thin band of metal that I hadn't taken off my ring finger.

I took in how deep he was etched with the wrench of all my insides when Raymond continued,

"No, 'you know who' has canceled. He doesn't really get out of his room these days."

I'd thought Spencer had made me go through every kind of pain possible when I'd seen him naked with my cousin, when I'd heard the rumors about them, and when he had paired with her for the project. But here, I discovered a whole new level of pain as every cell in me was torn apart, and I turned instinctively to the picture, blinking away the blurriness to see the smiling woman, who had loved bowling.

Spencer had never missed a Sunday night of bowling, and I remembered too well the time he'd barely got out of the hospital and had insisted to play with his crutches. It was a family tradition between Spencer and Raymond to honor his mom's memory.

"I know I promised to not talk about him, and I can't meddle in your business." He paused his careful words, waiting to be sure I would let him continue.

He was his dad after all, so it was normal that he would defend him and try to interfere. But it was already considerate of him to leave me the choice, and without even thinking, I nodded.

"He's miserable without you."

I inhaled a shaky breath, the same as the ones I generally took in when I was alone in my room, every night before the sobs followed.

Yet here, I wasn't sure whom I was hurting for.

I shouldn't have felt that shriveling in my chest when he'd been the one to crush my heart, but I couldn't ignore Raymond's words, and they were outweighing everything I'd seen or heard.

'Things weren't always what they seemed.' Maybe it was what I was thinking about too.

"He isn't the only one..." I admitted, not trying for a 'fine' or to even hold back the single tear that rolled down my cheek, and my head was spinning more than before, so much that it was only when Raymond turned fully to me to with a compassionate smile that I realized the car had already stopped. 

We were arrived; we were home. I rubbed my eyes to glance around, though I found the tall oak tree with its new foliage dancing in the wind before my gaze landed on the large angular shapes of the house, and I let out a small sigh of relief when I glimpsed no light.

Darkness was indeed frightening, but maybe it was because of the light. It was the perfectly aligned street lamps that created all those scary shadows, and what we feared was what the darkness would give way to when we cast light on it.

At least, in this instant, I could say I preferred by far the obscurity behind the windows because the lights would have meant my parents had been home, and this was the most terrifying. I already had enough things to worry about, and that was why I offered my puppy eyes to Raymond.

"Can you please not tell my parents where I was?"

As he pinched his lips, I could already feel the defeat invading me, and it was the contrary of the freedom I'd sought so much; it resembled more the heaviness of my parents' disappointed looks on me before they sent me to my room surely forever. Raymond was the most honest man I knew, and he had undoubtedly seen better pleading eyes than mine in all his career.

I was already reaching for the handle when he replied, "Okay, but on one condition."

I froze all my movements, and the images of my empty bedroom as cell for the next twenty years dissipated as I slowly peered up at him. It couldn't be worse than my parents' wrath? Yet I was still paralyzed as a few possibilities crossed my mind.

"You have to promise me to never go out alone at night."

"Yes." I let out a sigh of relief, which not even his unflexible expression could hold back. "I promise. Thank you."

I got out of the car with one more smile, as this deal would be of no use if my parents arrived at any minute.

Nevertheless, once on the sidewalk, my feet still stopped for a second.

I was right between the two houses, which were impossible to distinguish by night, and all the flowerbeds my mom had spent days to look after became the same shapeless shadows as the neighboring gardens. Although my foot recognized the difference when it lifted towards the right before I fought the pull on all my muscles and walked to the left.

It wasn't new. I had fought that harrowing attraction every time I'd passed the hidden passage in the fence. Today, it was stronger though, fueled by Raymond's words, all of them.

This whole strange conversation resonated in my head as I crossed the living room without even turning on the light. His warning followed me when I reached the bathroom, trying to get rid of the shivers the possible meaning created at the same time as my clothes.

'Things weren't always what they seemed.' I was back in those gloomy streets as I walked by the squared console table and the family pictures, searching for any hint in all the shadows I'd glimpsed. Yet this saying always led me to the same pair of crystalline eyes, and I arrived at my window with the last part of the conversation.

'Miserable', I'd been miserable wandering in the dark streets. I was miserable as my shaky hands opened slowly the curtains, and I peered inch by inch, my body hidden in the darkness of my room.

Yet, here, there was no light to cast on me as the opposite window was as dark, the open curtains showing only black shapes.

For a second, the dancing shadows of the trees around turned into flashing red lights, and in the dark square of the window two pairs of teddy brown eyes appeared, the only difference between them being that the cuddly toy didn't have any blood vessels blurring its brown shades.

'Will we be alright?' His little voice was still echoing in the most broken part of my heart.

I'd had no idea that day, yet I had still replied with all the aplomb of my eight years, 'As long as there's Spencer and Dorothy, we'll be alright.'

I stepped away from the window before my sobs could wake up all the neighborhood, though, with one last glance, I still asked quietly, 

"Will we be alright?"

Will they be alright? 🤔 And who's crying? 😭💔 Unless you're still too mad at Spencer? What do you think? 

And the 'things aren't always what they seem', what do you think Raymond was talking about? 🤔👀

Let me know all your thoughts in the comments!!! And don't forget to vote ⭐ if you liked this chapter!

PS: I'm sorry there was no Blade in this chapter, but you know what to do if you want to see this evil genie 😏😈🌠

Until next time, I tell you I love you, my little shooting stars!!! 😘💕🌠