Candle

By Invader-Hime

The October evening was cool and crisp. The leaves were changing colors and fluttering to the ground in the soft breeze. Gwen Tennyson opened the window of her bedroom and let the fresh air fill her lungs. She smiled and hummed to herself as she lit a small pumpkin scented candle on her window sill and sat down to work. When she opened the book, the breeze caught a photo that she had been using as a bookmark and blew it to the ground. Gwen bit her lip, then leaned over to pick it up. It was a picture from the summer road trip from four years ago. She, Ben, and Grandpa Max were standing in front of the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada" sign. She smiled.

It was hard to believe it had already been four years since they had went on that trip...and in the meantime, life had returned to normal...well, for the others. Ben had taken off the Omnitrix and Grandpa Max had come and gone on his various missions...and Gwen had...well, kept up with her studies, as well as added to her magic spell roster...her powers came to her easier now, almost as if they were a part of her and not the words from the book. This made things easier...just like life was somehow easier now, too. There weren't any complications...any villains to fight...nothing of the sort just a sort of serene peace that made everything feel alright. It made it safe to leave the window open. It was not as if anything was going to happen to her...like anyone was going to jump in and do her any harm. Gwen smiled and set to work reading and taking notes. The candle flickered for a moment.

The candle's scent drifted out her window and he could smell it like he was standing next to it. He shifted his large bulk precariously and peered over the roof's ledge. There was an angle...if he was careful enough...quiet enough...that he could position himself in that let him watch her as she worked. His vulpimancer arms dug into the shingles with sharp, gripping claws and his wings spread awkwardly for balance and he found he was able to see her without any difficulty. His thick, striped tail began to wag slightly in delight. He'd been watching her for the past few weeks and had no idea why, but he liked it and what Kevin 11 likes, he does...ain't nothing nobody can do about that. He smiled and a few pointed teeth poked out of his mouth at the thought. He started out with vengeance on his mind. That's how most things he did started...ill will and vinegar seemed to be what he was built up from.

He'd started spying on her. The other Tennysons were unlisted, but he knew if he was patient enough, they'd talk about the others and he'd be able to glean all the information he needed from whatever it was that they said. Perhaps they would come over for a family visit and he'd crash the party...but nothing like that ever happened. The parents were useless in this matter and Gwen only communicated with her cousin through emails and instant messages which were impossible to read from a distance. He had nothing to gain from continuing the stakeout. Still, he kept coming back...at first it really was for vengeance...but now...now it just felt like he was wanting to look at Gwen. The idea was strange to him. He still acted on it, but he didn't understand it. It wasn't anything he'd ever done or wanted to do before. He couldn't think of a single reason why he should, but he did.

He was getting more bold now. He saw her head down on her desk and her sides rose and fell slowly. She was asleep. She would not see him or hear him. He twitched his tail like an oversized cat and shifted his weight so that he hung over her window and looked in. She quivered and he froze with fear, thinking he might have made something shake or creak and it would wake her and she'd scream and things would get messy. She didn't move. She just sat there shaking. He cocked his head to one side, as if doing so would make him understand what was going on. A cold wind blew and the candle flickered again and he understood she was cold. There was a blanket hanging over the back of her chair. Without thinking, he reached for it with his crystal hand and found himself a few inches short, but dangerously close to touching Gwen Tennyson. He swallowed hard, but the action was difficult in his current position and did nothing to help the situation. Carefully, he shifted his weight and his lower arms lowered his bulk while still clutching the shingles. With some maneuvering, he was able to gain the extra inches he needed to snag the blanket with the tips of his fingers and pull it over the girl's shoulders.

The candle flickered.

In another instant, the visitor was gone, having retreated up to the roof where he too curled up like a gargantuan cat. He tucked his face under his striped tail and exhaled through his gills...and fell asleep.

When he awoke, he peered down over the side of the house again to peer in at the Tennyson girl. The window was closed and the candle had burnt out. Gwen had been tucked into her bed and she lay there sleeping peacefully. With a flick of his wings, Kevin was righted and he fluttered off into the dark from whence he had come.