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The night sky was speckled with an unknowable number of stars. Blinking. Pulsating. As though they were sending thousands of micro signals across the cosmos. As far as the eye could see, they stretched infinitely, uncovered from the shadows of the night clouds. The weather in Dominold was a blessing for that matter as far as the Little Astronomer was concerned. Though for her father, standing beside her, he was happy enough for the good harvest and the security it had brought. . . Had brought. . . The Father looked down the hill and stared longingly at their little homestead below. The lights were off and though they were not inside, he knew the air conditioning would be as well. He sighed deeply as he turned to his daughter, sitting in the dirt next to the shrine, wrapped up like a Khosrau mummy in blankets, staring into the air like she was expecting something.

"Alright pup. It's getting cold out."

"Just a little bit more papa," the astronomer complained, "the weatherman said there would be meteor shower tonight."

Her father let out a chuckle,

"The weatherman didn't say anything about meteors. Just showers."

"But the sky's clear!"

The father looked up once more, surveying the atmosphere. Not a patch of clouds to be seen. . . at first. He pointed north, over the treetops and towards the hills leading to the mountains. A shadow lurked just above the horizon.

"Over there you see? That's the cold front."

"But it's already cold?"

"Well. . . It's going to get colder. You won't want to be out here much longer."

"But," huffed the Astronomer, "the house will still be cold too."

"No it won't."

She turned to face her father,

"I disagree!"

He froze, involuntarily. He felt a twitch in the back of his neck and a heat rise in his cheeks. He began to open his mouth, but stopped himself. He stared into his child's eyes, pushing down on the reflexive, primitive, argumentative, creature rising up.

"What did you just say?"

The Astronomer sat still, the realization of her words dawning across her face. The Father sighed deeply,

"Inside. Now."

~~

The house was not much warmer than the outdoors, the last of the day-heat dwindling away into the open air. Wrapped in her blankets, the Astronomer waddled to her room, not speaking to her mother sitting on the living room's sofa as she passed. The bedroom door slammed, echoing through the quiet house before fading into quiet, muffled sobs. The mother looked to her husband, unimpressed.

"Don't bring your boots in."

"They're already out."

"Good."

The Father lumbered over and fell into the sofa next to her, rubbing his eyes. The Mother flipped through a newspaper, straining her eyes to see in the dark.

"I could turn a light on," he offered.

"You wouldn't dare," she responded sarcastically.

"Just a few more weeks. We'll send her off. Then we'll sell-"

"Turn the radio on."

The Father leaned back in the sofa, a confused look washed over his face. The Mother didn't look up from the newspaper.

"Turn the radio on. Government station."

With a resigned sigh, the father stood up and switched on the radio on the coffee table. It was already on the Commonealth's Official Station. Before he had a chance to lower the volume, it crackled to life with a powerful, twisted, inspiring voice,

"-is the time for the true followers of Shangralore, God, and Acheinseolv to rise once more! Rise with the dawning sun! Rise with the fall of the Commonwealth! Rise and tear down those who-"

He shut the radio off.

The Father turned to his wife, eyes wide. She motioned to the front page of the paper. In massive deep black letters, the headline read:

"Queen Flair Murdered! The Dual Church Takes Command!"

The Father was in shock, covering his mouth. His wife shook her head,

"You and your friends have really done it now."

He moved towards his wife, grabbing her hand. He whispered harshly,

"You know I've had nothing to do with this!"

"I disagree."

He pulled back, forcing her to her feet.

"Shut up. Shut up! I didn't do anything!"

"You joined their club. We were there at the baptism."

"They said they would help us! Give us what we needed to keep going. I didn't know this is what they wanted!"

"You're going to wake her."

"She probably up listening right now, it doesn't matter!"

"Joseph. Let. go."

Joseph looked down at her wrist, his hand clutched around it, tightening. He breathed deeply. Pushed down the beast. Cooled the heat. He released. His mind swam, practically drowning. He hesitantly sat himself on the edge of the sofa. His wife nursed her wrist.

"What are you going to do now?"

Joseph found himself staring at the floor, unable to bring himself to look her in the eye.

"They'll come in the morning," he said, hollowly, "For me. And for her."

"Only if they know about her."

Joseph nodded.

~~

Inside her bedroom, the Astronomer wiped tears from her eyes as she pressed her ear to the side of the door. She could hear her parents fighting about something, barely containing the anger in their voices, but the words were lost. She knew though, something about his fight was different from the others. Their tones, their frustration, it all felt off. Like they weren't fighting about something, but for something.

The Little Astronomer felt the floor boards creak as her parents walked closer towards her room. She quickly tried to stand up and rush to her bed, pretend she was asleep, but her foot caught the end of her blanket wrap and she found herself falling onto the ground. Struggling to stand back up, she turned around just in time to see her Father standing in the doorway.

"Pup. We need a talk."

"I- I was sleeping. I swear."

Joseph chuckled, but to the Astronomer, it sounded like it had hurt.

"It's okay. Come here."

He squatted down to reach her level as she cautiously pulled a trail of cloth behind her. When she had gotten close, Joseph pulled her into a close hug.

"You know I love you."

"Yes papa."

Behind the hug, his faced turned to a frown.

"Do you love me back?"

Silence fell.

Joseph released the hug, but continued to hold onto her shoulders tightly.

"Suzy. I need you to listen carefully."

Suzy stared at her father expectingly,

"Tomorrow. I'm going to leave. . ."

~~

Sózei woke in a cold sweat. She could hear her heart racing, overtaking the subtle tick of a grandfather clock in the house. She frantically looked around the dark bedroom. Little had changed in the past two decades. The bed was larger. The house was smaller. Shaking herself awake, Sózei dropped out of the covers and onto the floor. The wood was warm from the air conditioning, but she could feel the winter cold gripping the homestead outside. She looked at herself in the mirror, the darkness accentuating her black hair and sunken eyes. With increasing paranoia, she scanned the reflection for anything that was different. No extra shadow. No eyes creeping in the dark behind. Nothing. And still, she felt terrified. But already she could feel the nightmare fading, like the warmth from an unheated house.

Sózei sat down on the edge of her bed, breathing deeply as the adrenaline left her system. She told herself that the nightmare was gone, that her work was over. The shadows, the ghosts, they were all gone. But then, she looked up. The door to the living room was opened. Two white holes peered at her from void beyond. Sózei could barely react.

"Please," she begged as the eyes began to vanish back into the night, "Don't leave papa. . ."