Teddy walked slowly away from the window. His sheer curtains had fallen in the way and cut off his view but he knew exactly what he'd seen. Out there on the street there had been a boy, two boys, watching his window.

The small boy pressed his hand firmly to his heart, willing his chest to stop rising so quickly. There's a lock on the door, he reminded himself. Nobody would try to break into a church.

No wonder he'd woken up so uncomfortable. Teddy couldn't remember what he'd dreamt of anymore, but he'd woken up in a cold sweat with a start. For some reason no matter what Teddy couldn't get his body to calm down. He was called, drawn deeply towards the window. Something told him to look out, something told him he needed to see whatever was on the street.

Still, in the distance Teddy found his eyes transfixed on the moon. He thought it must be of some importance, though he couldn't figure out why. Teddy hadn't ever had a fixation on the moon before, but that night it reached so clearly for him.

Teddy was compelled to open the window for a better view of whatever he was meant to be seeing. He looked right down the street and couldn't see anything. It was too dark, too far away. Across the street the town hall had a single lantern above the main door and for some reason Teddy was glad to see it was still lit.

Then Teddy turned his attention towards the woods, searching... for something he didn't know. Teddy's eyes drifted down to the street and he frowned. In the distance he could just make out the shapes of two black lumps, but something told him they weren't meant to be there.

As his eyes adjusted Teddy realized the lumps were two men... two men staring right at him.

It was too ridiculous to be real. Teddy longed to run and grab Fr. Charles, but didn't want to disturb him. He'd never felt so unsafe in his own room all his life. The boy wiped his sweaty palms down the sides of his pajama pants and attempted to take another deep breath.

His mind was truly playing tricks on him. Sr. Matilda was going to have to take him into Salem to visit the nearest hospital if he saw something else.

Maybe you've got a brain tumor. Teddy thought to himself. Maybe it's finally making you go insane.

When he had gathered enough composure, Teddy toed closer to the window and gingerly moved the curtain. When his courage had returned even more, he looked in the direction where he'd seen the men: nothing. There was nothing there.

Teddy wasn't sure if he ought to feel relieved. Them being there meant one of two things: they had never been there to begin with and Teddy was having the second hallucination, or they had been there and had left that spot to break into the house and would be coming up the stairs any moment to kill him.

He wasn't sure which to hope for.

Teddy remained frozen in fear like a prisoner waiting for his executioners, but when after nearly ten minutes nobody came and there was no sign of any struggle, he sighed and moved slowly back towards his bed. It had been the former, Teddy was crazy.

He let his head fall back onto his pillow and looked over at his clock--- It was three-thirty in the morning. He had to work at eight the next morning, which really put a wrench into his plans.

Teddy laid there for the rest of the night, staring at the wall, lost in thought.

....

Teddy awoke again, still hazy and not quite refreshed from his sleep. It was early, even for him, not long past five in the morning.

His alarm clock brutally shook him awake and he jumped at the sound. The boy hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep again after his hallucination the night before, but it still wasn't enough. Teddy groaned and sat up. The little bronze clock on his nightstand read that it was 7 AM and Teddy wished he didn't need to get up. It was a Sunday, and Sundays were meant to be for sleep.

Begrudgingly Teddy dressed himself for the day in a simple gray sweater and dark blue jeans. He pulled his socks on with a grunt nearly toppling over as he jumped around.

"Everything all right up there?" Fr. Charles' voice called from down the stairs.

"I'm fine!" Teddy called back unsure as to whether or not it was a lie. Physically he was, but mentally? Mentality was a can of worms Teddy didn't have time to open before church.

The boy gave one last final look out the window only to see that once again there was nothing out of the ordinary, before going down the wooden stairs and turning into the Teddychen.

Fr. Charles was sitting at the small four chair table they had tucked into the corner of the room, and Teddy knew Sr. Matilda wouldn't be up until a little later. She always seemed to rush into church a little late with her veil blowing behind her. The man had coffee to drink but no food. Fr. Charles wouldn't eat until after the mass, Fr. Charles liked to make time at least to sit with him in the morning. A newspaper partially obscured his face.

"Morning," Teddy said as cheerily as he could manage before grabbing a bowl and cereal from the pantry.

"Theodore?" Fr. Charles said firmly, and Teddy's face flushed as he worried Sr. Matilda had let it slip to Fr. Charles that he was late, and he was about to get another lecture. "Where's your bandage? You don't want your cut getting infected, do you?"

"No..." He sighed in relief. "It was giving me a headache, so I took it off to sleep."

"Well just make sure you put on a new one," Fr. Charles nodded, folding the newspaper so he could read a different article. Teddy was overjoyed; it seemed like he was in the clear. "Did you have a nice night?"

"Oh yes!" Teddy nodded, sitting at the table across from the man. "Thank you for letting me go. I had a really great time."

"I'm glad."

The walls of the room were a kind of orange up until halfway where they were finished with a tile bearing different fruits on it. Everything in the room felt a little oppressive bathed in the morning sun pouring in through the yellow curtains.

"After mass could you do me a favor and run to Mr. Murphy's shop for some groceries?" Fr. Charles asked. "I'd go myself, but I'm in Salem all day delivering Last Rites at the hospital. I left a list on the counter."

"Of course," Teddy nodded.

"We should head over soon," Fr. Charles said with a look at his watch. He folded the newspapers up and let it fall onto the table. "Are you going to go now, or with Sr. Matilda in a few minutes?"

"I can go with you," Teddy shrugged.

"Good," Fr. Charles said with a curt smile. The two of them stood from their seats, Teddy pausing to place his bowl in the sink, and exited the rectory. Teddy liked walking over to the church with Fr. Charles. He got to help set up before mass and watch as everyone from the town poured in.

Like clockwork the familiar faces filed into the pew just before eight in the morning, and Teddy chose to sit next to Mr. O'Connor after the man waved him over with a friendly smile. They often spent mass together and Teddy was glad to have somebody to sit with.

When Damien and Mr. Murphy arrived, Damien shot him a concerned look and Teddy frowned in confusion.

....

Once he'd assisted Fr. Charles in cleaning up after mass, Mr. Murphy and Damien had already reached home. He was glad of it too, because Teddy had been dreading the idea of having to follow them back to the shop after church.

It wasn't a far walk, nothing in the town really was, but it was a little chillier than Teddy might have liked and he wished he'd thought to wear a jacket when he was leaving with Fr. Charles. The boy cuddled the fabric of his shirt closer to himself shielding him from the brunt of the elements.

The wooden sign of the general store came into view and Teddy practically hopped up the step that led under the cover of the awning. He pulled the door open and entered with a jingle from the little gold bell that sat above the door. Teddy gave an appreciative shiver as he let the warmth rush.

Damien, who stood at the counter with a green apron covering his gray tee shirt, looked up from his phone and upon realizing it was Teddy tucked it away.

"Hey." He grunted in a deep voice. Teddy nodded in greeting to him.

"We got a customer out there, boy?" Mr. Murphy's voice came in response.

"Yeah, Dad. It's just Teddy, though."

"Oh Teddy?" Mr. Murphy appeared from behind the pink and white striped curtain that blocked off the backroom. "What can I do for you today?"

"Just grabbing some stuff for Fr. Charles," Teddy answered with a slight smile.

"Well if you need anythin,' give a holler!"

Teddy nodded, before turning slightly. The store was small and had only one room. All the walls were painted a pale green that matched Damien's apron. The shelves were only stocked generally with simple necessities like eggs, flour, milk, cereal, and oatmeal. It was awkward to look around the store because Mr. Murphy remained at the counter and there wasn't anywhere in the room that was out of his sight— though Teddy assumed that made it difficult for miscreants to steal..

Teddy drifted towards the small selection of cold products and picked out a simple package of chicken breasts.

"Damien, go on and grab Teddy a basket, would you?" Mr. Murphy called to Damien, who rolled his eyes, but handed Teddy a basket anyways.

"Thanks..." Teddy mumbled awkwardly before taking the basket into his hands and plopping the chicken into it. He didn't have many items on the list, but he was happy to have a bag regardless. Damien stood for another moment with his large muscular arms under the cuffed sleeves of his tee shirt crossed over his chest.

"Be nice." Mr. Murphy demanded.

"You're welcome," Damien groaned. With that, the dark-haired boy disappeared back into the workroom presumably to text some girl he was flirting with.

Teddy strolled a little longer through the aisles, feeling Mr. Murphy's eyes on him. He put a carton of eggs, some gum, and a bag of frozen corn into his basket as well. Frozen chicken from Mr. Murphy was still much fresher than anything Teddy could get at the convenience store halfway between Belford and Newbury.

"That everything?" Mr. Murphy asked as Teddy set his basket down on the table.

"Yes, Sir."

"You won't let Damien bother you, will you?" Mr. Murphy asked, scanning Teddy's chicken. "I told Fr. Charles you ought to be watchin' him last night and not the other way around."

Teddy chuckled.

"I know he's my boy, but sometimes he's quite the oaf.. though I'm sure I was an oaf once too."

"I'm sure you weren't," Teddy smiled. "I'm alright, Mr. Murphy. Fr. Charles likes to worry... but I was just glad I got to go last night at all."

"Oh, I'm sure you were. I only let 'im watch you because I was hoping you'd rub off on him," Mr. Murphy said with a smile as he placed Teddy's paper bag on the counter.

"You forgot the gum," Teddy said, eyeing the old computer screen.

"On the house."

"Oh, I can't. Fr. Charles would have a cow if he knew I was stealing from you."

"You're not stealing from me, I'm giving you something. 'Sides, who's gonna tell him?" Mr. Murphy asked with a pestilent grin.

Teddy finally relented and placed the money on the table, but he put the extra that would have been for the gum into the tip jar.

"Oh bless your heart boy, that's Damien's tip jar!"

"Why does Damien have his own tip jar?" Teddy asked with a frown. General stores didn't usually have tip jars, but he'd been putting money into this one for a few months.

"Boy wants to buy himself a car... figures he can flirt his way into girls tippin' him, but so far you're the only one that puts any money in there!" Mr. Murphy laughed. "You got plans to fund his car?"

"Idle hands are the devil's instrument," Teddy shrugged with a giggle.

"Amen to that!"

As Teddy collected his bag he was hit with a strange feeling on the back of his neck, and it seemed as if his hair was standing on end. Teddy waged a quick over his shoulder to see that out the window there was a boy standing on the street and staring at him. He whipped his head back around and took the bag into his hands quickly.

"Everything alright?"

"Course," Teddy lied. "You have a nice evening, Mr. Murphy."

"You too, Teddy."

Teddy turned again this time more slowly. The feeling of great unease, that which he'd felt earlier in the morning before looking out his window, hadn't gone away. In fact it'd been increased tenfold and even though they were separated by a pane of glass, Teddy felt as if the man was right in front of him.

"Really Teddy, you okay?"

"Just a little reluctant to go back out into the cold."

The window was cut halfway down with a horizontal pink curtain that ran across it. The man outside was high above that, tall enough to be seen regardless. It was stifling, as if all the air had been vacuumed out of his chest.

Teddy sniffed lightly, pulling his coat closer around his shoulders. The motion gave him extra time to gather his meager courage, and he nodded to himself and walked firmly from the store. He had just as much right to be there, he had just as much right to stay, even if some random man was staring at him.

When Teddy exited the store he kept his head down hoping he could avoid whatever altercation this man seemed to be trying to trigger. He could still feel that whoever it was was staring at him, but careful not to appear scared.

"Teddy!" The man called, and when Teddy looked up he realized that he recognized the voice and he smiled.

"Elijah?" Teddy gasped. "I didn't think I'd see you again for a while? I thought you were going back to Newbury!" Knowing it was Elijah almost made the feeling melt away. Almost.

"I was." Elijah said in a brief broken sentence. "But something made me want to stay here a little longer.

"Oh?" Teddy flushed red. "Are these your friends from last night?" He gestured to the tall man and woman who stood on either side of Elijah.

"We are!" The woman said energetically. "I'm Anna, it's so nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too," Teddy nodded cordially. "And–"

"I'm Daniel," The man explained, he reached out his hand for a handshake, but Elijah glared so hard at him that he dropped it. "That was a cool festival you guys had last night. Did you have fun with Elijah?"

Teddy's face was as bright red as he shuffled his feet sheepishly.

"I did," Teddy offered quietly. Elijah locked eyes with him after he spoke this and Teddy's look turned inquisitive as he lost himself in the amber glow. This was rewarded with equal curiosity from the other side as the black haired boy attempted to let the scowl fall from his face. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You said you didn't have a phone." Elijah explained. "I wanted to talk to you, so I came here."

"That's very sweet of you!"

"That's our Elijah, just a barrel of sweetness!" Anna joked.

"I wondered if you might want to go get Lun—"

"Teddy!" Someone called and Teddy looked back to see Mr. Murphy in his green apron coming out from the door to the store. "You left your wallet."

The spell was broken and Teddy snapped back into action, patting his pockets, and realizing what he was missing.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Murphy! I completely forgot."

"No problem." Mr. Murphy handed Teddy the small leather wallet, then eyed the three people by Teddy strangely. "Everything alright out here?" The question was asked in the direction of the outsiders, but it was directed at Teddy. The insinuation was clear: you signal if it isn't.

Though he'd felt perfectly comfortable just a second before, the unnerving feeling returned as quickly as it left when Mr. Murphy shook him out of his haze. Suddenly he felt exposed being out alone on the safe streets of Belford, and longed to get back home to safety.

As much as he liked Elijah, the boy was still a stranger. He knew plenty of stories of people who seemed perfectly kind then turned out to be monsters in disguise and he couldn't stomach the idea of that coming out of such a perfect night. He shuffled slightly under the gaze of those around him, aware they watched his every move.

"We were just asking Teddy if he might like to go have something to eat with us," Anna explained.

"I uh... I would like to," Teddy said, looking to Mr. Murphy who had a distrustful look on his face. "But not today... I promised Fr. Charles I'd be back home... and I-- I should really go."

"Of course!" Anna spoke encouragingly. "Some other time, then?"

Teddy nodded after a moment of brief hesitation, then stepped back towards Mr. Murphy who placed a protective hand on his shoulder. Elijah eyed this with an expressionless face pondering his next move. Deciding it would be best to let Teddy warm up on his own, he elected to leave.

"Goodbye, Teddy." He called. It was simple, but Elijah was desperate for an answer. Desperate for some encouragement of the affection. He wanted--- no needed--- Teddy to say it back.

"Goodbye."

"You be careful of strangers, Teddy." Mr. Murphy said once Elijah and his friends were out of sight. Teddy nodded with wide eyes.