One Moonless Night

Chapter 3

"Aria, you okay?" Clarity asked, her face scrunching up in concern. "You've been spacing out a lot lately."

    "I'm fine," I lied tiredly. "Just focus on getting us to class in one piece."

    "As your best friend, I can tell when you're lying to me. Don't make me force it out of you," Clarity warned.

    I sighed. "I'm just not sleeping well."

    And it was true. Over the past couple of days, my mysterious stalkers seemed to have disappeared on the face of the earth. That should have made me relieved. However, I still was unsettled and it was affecting my sleep.

    Each night, I would toss and turn for hours before I could finally sink into sleep, but when I did, the nightmares came. I could never remember what happened during my nightmares, but each dream started and ended in the same way. In the beginning, my dream would be peaceful, happy even, but a feeling of terror would soon overwhelm me and thrust me straight into a nightmare. Then, I would wake up, tears in my eyes and a hand tightly clamped over my mouth, silencing my scream.

    "Do we need to pick up some sleeping pills?" Clarity questioned worriedly, bringing me back from my musings.

    "No, Clarity. I'm fine," I reassured. Besides, I don't think sleeping pills will help me with the nightmares.

    "If you're sure," Clarity said as she parked the car.

    "I'm sure. I'm not an insomniac," I retorted.

    Clarity grinned before grasping my wrist and dragging me through campus. She lead me to an area filled with trees and hid behind one of them. "See that man in the white shirt? With his jacket thrown over this shoulder and holding a briefcase?"

    "Um... The one with glasses?" I asked, uncertain.

    "Yes!" Clarity squealed. "That's the hot substitute that I was talking about! Isn't he gorgeous?"

    He was gorgeous. Almost inhumanly so, and for some strange reason, I didn't trust him.

    "Okay, he is pretty attractive," I admitted, "but Clarity-"

    "See! I told you he was hot!" Clarity interrupted.

    "And he's walking over here," I smirked.

    "And he's... Wait what?! He's walking over here?" Clarity panicked. "How does my hair look? Do I look slutty yet elegant? What if he thinks I'm desperate? Oh my god!"

    "Clarity calm down," I laughed. "He's just a guy. Besides, I think that you look fine."

    "Just a guy? My gosh, Aria, sometimes I question your sexuality," Clarity mutters, unconsciously smoothing it down.

    "Good morning, ladies. Off to class I hope," a smooth baritone chuckles.

    "Mr. Collins! Yes, ah, um, w-we were just leaving. To class, I mean.  Er... I mean we're not ditching. We were just leaving to go to class. Ditching class is bad. A student's priority is education. Uh... The grass looks nice. I like your nose!" Clarity blurted, her face turning tomato red.

    Mr. Collins chuckled again. "See you in class Miss Montgomery. And please, if you need anything, feel free to ask."

    With a wink, Mr. Collins turned around as Clarity mumbled a garbled farewell.

    "What was that?" I asked, giggling.

    "I just couldn't think!" Clarity exclaimed mortified. "Ugh! His hotness was messing with my head!"

    "I think that Mr. Collins thinks that you're pretty hot as well," I grinned.

    "You think so?" Clarity said miserably.

    "Yes. Well... A hot mess," I laughed. "Or possibly not right in the head."

    "Aria!" Clarity scowled, then started to laugh as well. "I did make myself seem really stupid, didn't I?"

    "Let's just go to class," I replied, linking my arm with hers.

    My classes passed by in a blur and I started packing my bag after my last class.

    "Miss Fiore?" my professor called. "I need to talk to you."

    Puzzled, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and calmly walked to the front of the class where my professor stood waiting. "Yes, Mr. Andrews?"

    "What do you know of demonic creatures, Miss Fiore?"

    "I... What?" I was completely taken aback by his question.

    "Nothing I presume," Mr. Andrews sighed.

    "There are creatures of the night out there," Mr. Andrews continued. "I suppose you already know that, having such a close tie to one yourself."

    "Mr. Andrews, I don't understand?" I questioned, utterly confused.

    "Some develop an attraction to humans." It was as if Mr. Andrews didn't hear me at all. "Others... They are more violent. They kill humans for entertainment and revenge."

    "Are you sick, Mr. Andrews?" I was starting to get worried. "Are you feeling feverish, experiencing hallucinations...?"

    "Be careful Miss Fiore. A group of these creatures are after you. Pray that the one you saved long ago saves you now in return."

    Mr. Andrews adjusted his glasses and handed me a thick, ancient book. "Take this. It will help you."

    "Mr. Andrews-"

    "I am not allowed to be involved. However, there are no rules forbidding me to assist you. Come back if you have any questions," Mr. Andrews interrupted, anxiously glancing at his watch. "You should leave now Miss Fiore. Stay safe and remember, trust no one but yourself and your protector."

    With that, Mr. Andrews shoved me out of the classroom and slammed the door behind me.

***

Yay! I can finally write!

I'm so, so sorry that I wasn't able to write anything during Spring Break and keep my promise. However, I was just assigned a huge writing project on Friday in English, and I spent all of my time during Spring Break that I could have used to work on this story to write a different story for my English class. 

I decided that I really should update and since I have no school tomorrow, I thought that I finally continue with the story. Don't worry, I'll try to update more tomorrow!

I hope that you guys haven't given up on this story yet!!! This chapter was a bit dull because it was a filler chapter, but I promise, the next chapter is a lot more exciting.

Also, I'm considering writing a new story with the one I wrote for my English class. It's pretty epic and I think that it deserves to be shared. Let me know what you think.

Anyways......

Love Ya!

~Thesmallthingsinlife