Where the Moon will Shine

Chapter 14

"Oh, hello again," the boy spoke. I was too shocked that he opened the door to say anything.

"Do you... need something?" He asked. I heard thunder clap above me, bringing me back to the present.

"Uh, yeah. See, the kids I was babysitting, her mom came back two hours late. I didn't really wanna walk home in the storm but I couldn't get service and then-"

"You need a ride?"

"Oh no, just a phone."

"Mk," he walked inside of the house, leaving the door wide open. "Are you coming?"

He looked slightly annoyed which made me upset for some reason. He had every reason to be annoyed, I couldn't help feeling bad.

"Yeah," I sighed, then stepped inside the house. Once I was inside, I noticed a familiar feeling. Something inside my chest churning, itching almost. It was strange, but I was sure it was just my nerves getting the best of me.

The house was beautiful. Way larger than I expected. It was large on the outside, but somehow it seemed twice the size on the inside.

It was very dark though, like Anika's house. The wood washed floors varied in deep browns so dark it could have been mistaken for black. The walls didn't do it much justice either, though they were a little lighter. The rooms of the house were spacious, it seemed to be an open floor plan.

There was hardly any light much like Anika's house. There were some candles here and there, but the main source of light was coming from a chandelier hanging in the living room. It, too, was also lit by candles. I wondered if electricity had been invented when the house was built...

The boy led me over to a landline by his living room couch. I also observed that there wasn't a television to be found.

"Here, dial your mom's number."

"I know how to work a landline, thanks." I responded sarcastically.

"Hmm.. got a bit of an attitude for someone who barges into other peoples homes in the middle of the night."

Shit.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Oh I think I knew what you 'meant.'"

Okay I take it back, I don't care about this guy or his not-so-scary scary house anymore.

"So, you gonna call anytime tonight? Or should I say this morning?

I rolled my eyes at him, completely provoked. It could have been sleep deprivation, but I thought I could see his lips form a cocky smirk.

I sighed. Struggling to remember my mom's number, I started hitting buttons.

"You sure look like you know what you're doing," he said sarcastically.

"Well maybe if someone wasn't watching me like a hawk, then I'd actually be able to call."

"Yeah, well what can I say. I'm a lurker. Give me that." Before I could respond, he grabbed the phone from the wall.

"Hey!"

"What's your mom's number?" He grunted, staring at the buttons connected to the phone.

"Um... it's uh..."

"You don't even know your own mom's phone number?"

"Look, it's late okay?!"

"Yeah, you're telling me," he sighed.

Ugh, not again.

"Sorry... thanks for-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, what are we gonna do about getting you home?"

"I'll just wait for my phone to turn on, can I use your charger?" I looked up from the floor to meet his eyes, but he just glanced in the other direction.

"Uhh, I lost mine."

"You lost yours?"

"Mhm..." We stood there for probably about two minutes before I broke the silence.

"Okay, so you're going to yell at me about not knowing my mom's number, when you don't even know where your phone charger is!?"

"I never yelled at you." He took a few steps away from me. Oh no, he's not getting away that easily.

"I mean really, you didn't have to answer the door. But you did! You're the one who decided to invite me inside to your ancient mansion and try to get me to use a phone that doesn't even exist anymore!"

"Would you just stop?" He started to take more obvious steps away from me, I could hear him hiss something else under his breath.

"Whatever, I'll walk home." I slipped my phone in my back pocket, and slammed my shoulder into his as I brushed past him.

"No, that's stupid. You-" His voice cut off abruptly, and he met my eyes again. There I could see the somberness again, and I could feel that weird feeling in my chest.

"You should go," he said barely above a whisper.

"Unbelievable," I sighed, as I turned to go out the door.

When I opened it, I was met with even more rain and thunder.

"Just wonderful," I muttered under my breath. As I slammed the door behind me, I could have sworn that I saw the boy hunched over the couch. Maybe grasping his stomach? It didn't matter, I didn't care.

I ran out into the rain and headed towards the street. What was it about that stupid boy that made my blood boil so much? I knew essentially nothing about him, other than the fact that I wanted to punch him. Hard.

That's when I saw it. The lights. At first I was rather confused. Where were the blinding lights coming from in the middle of a storm? And why did they keep getting brighter?

As I slowed to a jog and turned slightly, my eyes focused on the lights and I then knew what they were. Headlights. I was standing in the middle of the road with headlights coming right towards me.