Dance upon the moonlight

Chapter 1 Those who dance in the night

For those who dwell upon the stars,there are those who dance in the night.- Heather Millwood

        The night wore on, a heat wave covered the city of Baltimore. The air held the stench of the industrial quarter, the smell only made all that worse by the heated air. Alice had the air conditioner cranked up as high as it could go, yet she was still so hot. She could feel the sweat rolling down her neck, and it seemed every time she reached up to rub it away, new beads of sweat would appear to replace it. This was her first month in this new city, she of all seasons had to pick summer to move from her hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. She had moved here on a whim really, just a voice whispering to her heart that something was waiting for her here, be it a new job, love, a new start she did not know but she had obeyed this voice, getting herself a decent apartment in the bustling city, a nice job at the local newspaper even started a name for herself. She looked at her silk night shirt, seeing it drenched in her sweat she swore, that disgusting feeling clinging to her skin, her brain demanding another shower.

        She hopped into the shower, shedding her sweat drenched clothes, turning the shower onto the coldest setting. The water dripped down her skin as she let out a rather relieved sigh, the heat seeming to melt away from her skin, she let down her brown hair,  lathering it with coconut scented shampoo. Her brown eyes drifted to her goose bump covered skin, wondering why on earth there was such heat, even in the confines of her apartment. She rinsed out her hair, shutting off the frigid water. "So much fucking better." She grinned to herself, allowing herself a moment before she opened the current a wave of chilled air caressing each inch, each pore of her skin. She wrapped the towel around her thin form, shivering slightly though the chill was a blessed one for her.

        Her phone rang, so she took her frigid body into the living room, sitting herself down on the ivory colored couch, picking up the phone. "Hello?" She looked at the clock, 1:32 A.M. whoever was on the other line better have a dire emergency she grumbled to herself.

        "Miss Alice Dupont?" A rugged male voice asked, sounding almost apologetic for calling so early.

        "This is she, do you have any idea of what hour it is?" She forced her voice to remain calm, composed.

        "I do Miss Dupont, however, this is indeed important. I need you to come in early today, say in a few hours, around 6 A.M. should do." The voice sounded familiar, it was her boss.

        "Of course Sir! I will be there at 6 A.M. not a second after. Have a goodnight Sir." With that, a click sounded in her ear, and she lie back, rather tired. She kept the towel wrapped around her as she fell asleep on her ivory couch, exhaustion getting the better of her.

        A hot breath, a whisper of words not quite making sense, and her own racing heart. Those were all she could hear, her back arches to a burning sensation across her warmed skin, sending her body into a chaotic mess of trembling, jumbled words falling from parted, gasping lips. She was alone, yet not alone at the same time, she was in chaos, not knowing her head from a hole in the ground, such a blissful chaos. A touch, a light stroke sends her pleading for more, and a scream escapes from the confines of her mouth.

        Alice woke up with a start, her towel was tossed to the floor. She looked around frantically almost as if she expected somebody to be there, a physical, solid being. Her cheeks were dyed a light red as she recalled the events from her dream. She could feel the burning, the pulsing, the soft caresses and strokes across her heated skin. Her eyes land on the clock, it read a simple 5:26 A.M. she had a few minutes before she had to bother getting off the couch, but she got up, pulled on some clothes, fixed her hair and ate a blueberry bagel. Her chaotic mind raced, pondering what had just occurred she bit her lip, her heart aching within her chest. She was embarrassed to have such a dream, yet she never saw her partner, that bit disturbed her to no end. Alice carried herself sluggishly down the stairs, and into her silver car she affectionately called Kit. She pulled out of the crowded parking lot onto the main street that lead to her office building. Alice was the attentive sort, yet she had not hint, no clue. There was a sudden sound, like someone dragging fingernails across a chalk board, then darkness. She couldn't move, she was floating in this black void, almost hovering, there was this annoying beeping sounds that invaded the black area, it was constant for the most part, though sometimes it seemed to stop and panicked, muffled voices would take over the beeping, before that slow, droning beating would start again. She tried to speak, but she couldn't move, couldn't speak, twitch or even breathe on her own. She could just feel, hear and smell. There was a chemical smell one she knew after a few moments, bleach so she was somewhere clean at least. It seemed, she  was in a hospital, then she remembered. She was in a car wreck she remembered seeing twisted metal from Kit impale her, then there was blood everywhere, she felt the pain, heard her screams and the screams of by standers. She remembered the sirens, then there she was floating about in the darkness that enveloped her in such a cold embrace.