Talking to the Moon || The Owl House

Chapter 3: Revelations

Luz had never experienced exhaustion like this.

The unwelcome pull of consciousness dragged her away from the comfort of her empty dreams, and, despite having woken up more than ten minutes ago, Luz still hadn't opened her eyes. She found she couldn't. Fatigue glued her eyelids shut. Her body was running completely on reserve fuel and she worried that if she diverted any energy to opening her eyes then her body would give out entirely.

Instead, Luz laid motionless, trying desperately to remember how it got to this point. Most of the night was blank to her, interrupted intermittently by the fuzzy memories of that creature, of getting attacked, of hearing Eda's voice...bits and pieces close but all out of reach. It was as though the memories belonged to someone else. Like she saw them through someone else's eyes.

Frustration built in the back of Luz's throat the longer she laid there motionless but her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. She wanted to call for help. Why couldn't she move?

Thinking back on it, she remembered being injured. She had been...screaming. It must have been bad. That thing, did it paralyze her? The terrifying thought made her face twitch into a frown. No, that didn't sound right. But something happened, Luz was sure of it.

With the world shrouded in darkness, Luz tried to discern her surroundings. Her senses, or at least the ones she could currently use, felt more vivid than before.

There was so much noise around her. Close by, right next to her, was the sound of a heart beating slowly and the intake of a deep breath, then another. Somewhere else, Luz could hear two people talking though she couldn't figure out what they were saying amidst the rest of the chaos.

She heard the running water of a faucet, Hooty's grating laughter, the rustling of leaves outside, claws clicking against wood, wood creaking in the wind, blood, her blood, pumping through her veins-

With a surge of adrenaline, Luz's eyes flung open and her hands flew to her chest. She felt for wounds, expecting to pull her hands away red and sticky but found nothing there.

With higher clarity now, it all came flooding back.

The creature. Dark red eyes. Sharpened fangs. Deadly intent.

The attack. Claws ripping through flesh and bone. Choking on her own blood. The pain, the screaming. It had left her throat raw.

Eda. Panic coursed through Luz's body like an electric pulse, shocking it into motion again as she sat up, ignoring the achiness it brought with it. That didn't matter because Luz didn't know where Eda was and oh god, where is Eda?

Twisting around, eyes scanning the room, Luz only relaxed when she realized her mentor was lying in bed next to her, still asleep, chest rising and falling with ease. Her hair was in her face and every time she exhaled a few strands would blow up into the air before falling back down to tickle her nose.

Luz forced herself to her feet with a slight groan, wobbling unsurely at first before falling back over onto the bed. Her eyes snapped back to Eda but thankfully the woman hadn't budged, though she let out a deep snore that would've made Luz laugh if the girl wasn't so focused on getting her legs to work.

Why she wanted to stand up so badly and so suddenly, Luz wasn't sure. She was still completely spent, her body begging her to just lay back down, but Luz couldn't handle having to go through that paralyzing numbness again.

Except there was a problem. Everything was still so loud and now it was bright too. With her eyes open to take in everything, the light felt overwhelming, the same way it feels when your eyes haven't adjusted to waking up yet except that feeling wasn't going away.