Seneschal

It was late. It seemed a little odd, his being here and all, considering not just the hour, but that he wasn't from this part of town. He moved quietly but with purpose, as if he had been here before and knew his way. Most of the rain had dried, but the potholes threatend a turned, wet ankle. He stopped outside the door, the darkness of the alley enveloping him, he turned his head looking both ways. Not nervously, not as if he expected to see anything, he just sort of looked askance, then returned his gaze to the door.

"Murphy", he said, not demanding, not loudly, but with that same sense of purpose. In a moment  light went on over the door, it opened after the chink of a chain and a lock or two. The shadow within moved aside. He glided in without so much as a swish of his coat, disappeared into the dim light, the darkness remaining outside afraid to come in, the door closing with a whisper. 

That was the last anyone heard or saw of him. Gone, just like that. It took a while for anyone to notice, no clue was left behind, and he owed no one anything. They just sort of noticed his absence. Nothing bad happened to him, he just suddenly didn't exist anymore. Spooky, the kinda stuff that makes you leave a light on at night spooky.

It made me wonder why he was ever even here. He came, he went, nothing happened, but you were left with the sense something did happen, something very important, so much so it changed you, and maybe you were the only one who didn't notice what it was that did or did not happen, and you're too afraid of looking the fool to ask.  And every now and then a glimmer, a piece of memory stuck to the wall of your head, enough to make your heart beat harder, because YOU KNOW, but then its gone, before you can see it, hear it, feel it clearly. Sometimes you think you hear someone mention his name, but everyone seems not to have said anything at all worth hearing.

Yeah, spooky like that spooky... just gone.