The moon was up, shining brightly, casting a pleasant glow over the citizens of Sin Valley. Downtown, an unusual-looking cloud seemed to follow a black SUV with tinted glass and a fake number plate. Unusual looking as in, the shape seemed to change every couple of minutes along with a funny color. Sometimes it appeared lighter or darker than before. Also, the altitude was way differed then from other regular clouds. One moment it hung really low and other times it went up again into the night sky as it merges itself with the upcoming stars. Most of the people who were out on the streets at this time of night did not notice the strange moving cloud or just did not mind it, being busy with other things, like talking on their phones, watching their dogs not getting astray or just because they were deep in thought. But some kids who were playing late basketball and an elderly woman who walked slowly towards her home with her walking stick and a bag of groceries noticed! The woman who had just passed the playing kids, reacted by looking up at the sky above her as she heard a boy screaming....
¨Hey , guys look, look up, stop playing.....you see that?!¨ a boy with curly hair screamed to his teammates and friends as he looked up to the sky in wonder just when the cloud was hovering over the kids heads and stayed there still for a moment or two, before moving away from them with great almost unatural speed!
¨What on earth was that, was that an alien in a cloudy UFO?¨ another kid, wearing a baseball cap asked curiously.
¨Nah! don´t be stupid! of course its not a UFO, that stuff does not exists!¨ the eldest looking boy of the group cooly stated, not believing in that kind of stuff like some of his other friends did.
Then the curious kid with the curly hair, who saw the strange cloud first, spotted the older woman, also watching the sky with a frown on her face, a couple of meters away from them.
''Mama C! what are you doing out so late?'' the kid yelled at her with a happy smile. While the other boys were either still looking at the sky while contempating what they had just seen was really something from another world or not, the curly kid went over to Mama C. to greet her propperly.
''Hello Brian how are you doing dear boy?'' she answered the boy softly as she ruffled the boys hair affectoinatley while smiling. He was one of her favorites of the neighborhood kids who always came to greet her on the when he saw her on the street.
''I am good mama, just a bit hungry but thas okay, i ma used to it by now, how are you doing, you look a bit worried'' Brian asked curiously looking up at the woman who he considered his neighborhood mother since his own was a drug addict and never paid much attention to him.
"Oh sorry Brian! when was the last time you had something to eat dear?'' Mama C. asked dodging his question about her facial expression.
''Ehmmm...last thing was this morning......yes this moring i had some left overs from last night'' Brian answered honestly with a toothy grin.
''Ok and were is your mom now, is she at home?'' she asked worried.
''Don't really know and don't care either, she is never there for me anyways so why botter!'' Brian mutered while staring at his old shoes, who had seen a much better life a long time ago!
''Ok you saty with me then! lets go Brian, it is not safe out here so late for such young boys like yourself, greet your friends and then we go ok?''
''Ok Mama C, ill just be a minute'' Brian said before rushing over, back to his friends who were playing again, the cloud already forgotten.
''Hey guy's i am going! see you tomorrow after school yeah?''
''Sure Brian! see yah bye! and goodnight mama C!'' they other boys replied while waving at Mama C before returning to their game again, while Brian walked back to Mama C.
After one last glance towards the sky and the group of boys she crossed the street together with Brian and entered her front garden trough the small gate.
Before she closed the door behind them, she felt a a sudden shiver run down her spine as she watched the still viasble cloud cloud move on behind a black SUV futher on down the road. A sudden feeling of unease, that life as they knew it was about to change washed over her like the waves of the see, stratling here a bit. She did not know how or why but something was up with that cloud....
Why?
Unlike the kids who still played basketball outside, she had indeed recognised the weird looking cloud. She had only seen it once when she was younger, a long, long time ago. But the time she saw it was not a nice time for the city. It was a cold and dark period, and most of the elderly people of the city who were young at that time as well have tried their best to forget about that darkness, most of them aniways, but some had not. Not because she did ot want to but because it had left a dep impact on her very soul aking it almost impossible to forget that horrible day when everithing had changed....
"Go to the guesroom Brian, there you will find some thing on the usual spot so you can change after a hot shower, when you are done you come nd we eat something ok?''
''Ok and thank you mama C.!'' Brian replied before rushing of towards the guestroom, happy he would spend the night here, knowing that here he would be loved and cared for instead at his house were he proabably would find nobody home or his mother would be so high that she would not even know he was getting home.
While Brian took a quick shower, Mama C. started to remove things she wanted to use for a quick meal for Brian and for her own bedtime snack and after that she put the rest back in their places before she started cooking, while deep in thoughts.
Seeing that cloud again after so many years had gotten under her skin and she did not like one bit of it! It only meant death and destruction!
And if that was really the case again.....then she would do aniting in her power to keep the children safe, especially Brian who she loved like it was her own son!
Yes! she would keep him safe, even if it meant that she had to kill for it!!
That she vowed with all her heart!