Play of Shadows

01.3 Guest

The provocative greeting hung in the air for some time. The man was not at all embarrassed and waited patiently for the mother-daughter duo to show signs of life.

Ann narrowed her eyes. The man could not have seen her expression behind the mask, but his smirk seemed to widen – basking in the inhospitable aura, perhaps. Ann called him shameless in her mind, but didn't notice the small smile on her own lips.

A pointed cough had Ann taking a step forward at last. "Sorry to make you wait," she said.

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have sent you out so close to sundown," Ann's NPC mother said, quick to take the blame. She glanced at the man in black from the corner of her eyes.

"Sit down," the man said.

Ann immediately decided she would like to remain standing.

"Here," Ann's NPC mother pulled out the chair next to her. The look in her eyes translated into, sit your ass down.

Ann's stubbornness disappeared in a flash, like a popped balloon. She sat down obediently. Naturally, she knew that the NPC was a bunch of code spun into a virtual projection and not her real mother, but the weight of her stare was too familiar to ignore.

The man in black was visibly amused. He propped his chin on his hand, staring at Ann unabashedly. Ann tilted her head his way.

"What?" she asked, trying not to sound too sour and failing miserably.

"Ann," her mother hissed. Her stern expression tightened in a strained smile when she looked at the man. "Sir, my little girl means no disrespect. Please ask your questions, we wouldn't want to keep you from your duties."

Ann's mother was obviously in a hurry to get rid of their guest. The man laughed softly in response, obviously aware. He didn't call the woman out on it however, and even went along with her not so subtle prompt.

"Are you a wolf?" he asked Ann.

Ann stared. "No?" she said after a pause.

There was a moment of silence.

"No," Ann repeated, more confidently this time.

The man's smile grew yet again. At this rate, he'd be grinning like a wolf himself in no time at all.

"Alright," he said, and rose to leave.

Ann's mother got up in a fluster to see him out. Ann left her seat as well, mostly so she wouldn't be sitting when the man passed her by on his way to the door. He loomed well enough without extra help.

The man halted just as Ann rose. They stood close suddenly; Ann had to crane her neck up to meet the man's laughing eyes.

"Stay out of trouble tonight," he said.

Ann resisted the urge to step back. She straightened her spine, trying to get a few more inches onto her height, and stared up at the man in defiance. "Thanks. You, as well."

The man laughed. "Good to see you again," he said.

Ann's NPC mother stood frozen by the door. Her polite smile had long cracked, now reminiscent of a pained sneer. She remembered to offer a few words of goodwill when the man in black passed her by, then stared after him with narrowed eyes.

Ann tracked the man's path through the small, cluttered yard. The unsettling sense of déjà vu came over her again.

"Have we met before?" she wondered.

"I would very much like to know that, as well."

The dry voice brought Ann out of her thoughts. She looked at her "mother" sheepishly. "He seems familiar, that's all," she said, then tentatively probed, "Is there something wrong with him?"