“So how come, you don’t like being called Len?” Lenore was so focused on the food she was eating that she almost forgot Silas was there. He sat across from her at one of the little wired tables in the square. The guy running the food van nearby looked like he was closing things down for the night. 

“It’s just something that my mom and brother used to call me. Hearing it from other people just doesn’t sound right.” A cool breeze brushed against her leg. She was hoping she wouldn’t have to talk about them. She further avoided looking at Silas and the cold crawled up her leg. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought it was a bug, but she knew what it was. She wiggled her foot to brush the draft away.

Silas chuckled as he said, “What are you trying to play footsies? I didn’t realize you were the type.” Lenore was so focused that she hadn’t realized she had kicked his leg. She pulled her hands closer to herself and stiffened her back, “Sorry, I didn’t mean–”

“Hey, it's okay. Shit happens.” He said this with such a smirk that Lenore had no choice but to make eye contact with him. His eyes were a shade of gray that made it hard to look anywhere else. “What’s your mom’s name?”

Lenore could feel a grip on her wrist now. She glanced down to make sure it wasn’t silas. It wasn’t. Great, she thought. “um…Sarah. And my brother was called Michael.” She said, shaking her hand slightly, as if that would loosen the grip on her wrist. 

“Do you miss them?” he said

“Sometimes. But then other times it’s like they are still here with me.” She felt the grip on her hand lighten. Fine. You want me to talk about you? She thought. 

“My mom was really nice. She sang real good and kept Mikey clean and proper. She said if he looked the part, then he’d feel the part.” She used the arm with the ghostly grip to take a swig from her styrofoam cup. “Mikey liked cards. And dirt, he really liked dirt.” She thought back to the countless times she had to clean up the mess after coning him into playing 52-Card Pickup. 

Silas smiled then, “They sound pleasant, like you had a good set up. My sister and I are so far apart in age that it's hard to connect with her sometimes, ya’know?”

“Oh, how old is she?” Lenore thought maybe they could bond over the feelings of being an older sibling.

“Marieannette is a lot older than I am, let’s just say that.” he pushed out a chuckle at that statement, like it was so absurd to even think about the age difference. “She likes to hole herself up in the attic. I think she’s made friends with the dust bunnies up their!”

Lenore couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Sounds like Mikey.”

Lenore and silas sat and chatted for a while, all the while it grew chillier and chillier. At some point Lenore found herself stopping her teeth from chattering. When Silas noticed, he slipped off his jacket “You should’ve worn a heavier sweater,” he said as he draped it over shoulders.

Lenore felt her face heat up as he did this and brushed a few stray hairs behind her ears. “Aren’t you going to be cold now?” 

“Me? Nah, I’ll be alright.” he shrugged his shoulders as he stood. Reaching out a hand for her, he smiled and said, “Besides, I think it's time I get you home. Samson’s probably getting worried about you.”

Lenore scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. When did I tell him Sammie’s name?

As if reading her mind, he smiled and said, “You called him that, the day in the alley, remember?”

“...right,” She wasn’t convinced. 

The walk back to Lenore’s apartment-alley-rendezvous area was a quick one. Much quicker than the walk earlier. When they got to the mouth of the alley, She turned to silas and, struggling to make eye contact with him, said, “hey, I had fun tonight. It felt nice to go out with someone.” Someone other than Them.

Silas grinned and brushed her hair out of her face again, “I was thinking the same thing.” they stood there for a minute just looking at each other before Silas opened his mouth again. “I was also thinking that maybe we could do it again? You know, maybe go somewhere not outside so you don’t get cold?”

Lenore smiled as a little flush and flutter enveloped her, “yeah that sounds nice. I look forward to it.”

Silas nodded as he turned to leave. With a big smile on his face, he said, “Awesome! Sweet! It's a date then!”

As he started to walk away, Lenore remembered she was still wearing his coat. “Wait! You jacket!”

Silas turned around to face her but kept walking, “It's cool, I’ll text you when I need it back!” he shouted to her. 

Lenore nodded and waved at him as he turned a corner. “Hold on,” she said to herself, “I don't even have his–” She stuffed her hands in the pockets. She felt a piece of paper and pulled it out. It had a phone number on it with a little smiley face, signed with an ‘S’. 

Lenore smiled again as she folded it back and placed it in her pocket. 

Can’t wait to tell Samson about this!

When Lenore made her way inside of her apartment, felt an uneasy feeling embracing her. Just like earlier that night, there was a freezing draft encompassing the apartment as if someone had left all the windows open. 

“I’m home!” she called, and then quieter, to herself, “Now you can creep on me in peace.”

A breeze blew past her on her way down the hall to her room. It was dark, but she could make out the figure of a grown man sitting on her window seat. The goosebumps on her neck alert her that this probably wasn’t who she wanted to talk to. 

“So it was you who was messing with me all night?” she said as she placed her bag and Silas’s coat on the bed. The figure stood and moved like it wanted to walk up to her. She couldn’t make out the face but she instinctively knew who it was the second she saw the silhouette.

“Dad! I’m talking to you!” She called to the figure. It just stood there and watched her as she watched it. “What do you want!?” 

The door to her room slammed closed, jarring her from the  position as the foot of the bed. She turned to make sure no one was behind her, to make sure no one else was there with her. When she turned back to the bulk of the room, the man’s figure had moved to be a hair’ breath away from her face. 

She could feel negativity pooling off of it and into the air around her. It felt like ink washing down a shower drain, turning everything dark and muddy in the water. The air felt thin around her, like if she took too deep of a breath, she would die. The hair on the back of her neck pointed to the ceiling. The figure moved its arms in a way that was not natural. It moved like a shadow distorted by the flickering of a candle flame. And it moved so slow that the world seemed to be in slow motion around it. Lenore couldn’t move, paralysed at the thought of that Thing touching her, grabbing her. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe through her nose. 

With a shaking breath she whispered, “leave me alone.” The figure didn’t stop its movement. A tear trickled down Lenore's cheek as she closed her eyes. 

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” she screamed. In an instant, the air around Lenore began to feel normal again. The inky feeling that had washed over her gone and the warmth in the room returned. 

When she opened her eyes, the figure was gone. The only thing in the room was her. She turned on the light and opened the door. Sitting on the ground, was Samson holding a toy mouse in his mouth. 

Lenore wiped the tear off of her face and leaned down to pick him up. “I have to tell you about Silas.” She said as if the events from moments ago didn’t happen.