Insane?|| E.M. Fanfic

Chapter 15:

*LUNA'S POV:

Maybe I'm just oblivious. Maybe I've been hanging around Luna too much─she's as oblivious as anyone can get. Maybe I'm not seeing anything. All last night, Eddie was distracted by things I couldn't see. His eyes would widen as he stared intensely at a certain wall or corner. When I would question him, he would stutter out excuses like, "I thought I saw a bug," or, "I was just daydreaming." Unless my house is infested with bugs that I somehow can't see, something's up. There were even moments where he seemed to become protective. There was no reason to, unless I interpreted it all incorrectly.

"Luna, may I ask you a question?" MeMe suddenly asked, breaking the long, drawn out silence in the living room and kitchen area.

"Hmm?" I hummed from the kitchen, spooning some macaroni & cheese into my mouth.

"Your boyfriend. . .Eddie," she began, "does he always act like that?"

I chuckled to myself. "You noticed that, too?"

"I mean if he does act like that, that's fine but I was just curious. . ."

"No, you're right. He doesn't normally act that way. He just hasn't been. . .um, ya know, I- I don't really know how to explain it." I sighed, placing my plate in the sink.

Her eyebrows furrowed together and she set down the newspaper that she was reading onto the coffee table. She got up from the couch and took a seat at the center island while I took a seat on the island. "What do you mean? What's been wrong with him lately?" she asked.

"Well at first he was just having trouble sleeping, but then it gradually worsened. He started getting these nightmares─and I mean like night terrors. That's just about it, until yesterday, I guess. He was just staring out into space." I shrugged.

"Uh huh," MeMe said, "and when did this start?"

"Um," I hummed, "probably around the beginning of the month, like a week after school ended." I answered.

"That does sound strange. Let me know if anything else occurs. I don't want you or Eddie getting hurt or anything."

"Will do," I said, hopping off the counter and wandering upstairs.

"Hey Luna!" MeMe yelled from downstairs.

I groaned, walking back to the top of the stairs. "Yeah?"

"When you feel like it, come to the backyard. Your father made a fire and I found some marshmallows in the cabinet."

"Okay, I'll be down in a little bit." I answered, preparing to sneak up and scare my dog, who was sleeping on my bed.

***

Fire.

It's combustion─ fuel or other material is ignited and combined with a wonder of heat, light, oxygen, and flames.

Usually everyone's favorite part about a campfire is sitting around and roasting marshmallows or telling stupidly good spooky ghost stories. My favorite part is watching the campfire itself. I adore the way the flames twist and intertwine with one another; the way the warm colors of orange and yellow blind your eyes as you stare, and the popping and cracking noises. 

Sitting on one of our tree stump seats, I put on a hoodie before grabbing my favorite roasting stick and a marshmallow. I poked the stick through the squishy sugar blob and stuck it into the fire. I always get yelled at because I purposely burn my marshmallows. Who the hell has the patience to make a golden brown one? I can make and eat five burnt marshmallows before someone can make and eat a golden one.

"There she goes again." Dad said, rolling his eyes.

"You still do that?" MeMe asked, "I thought you just didn't know how to properly roast marshmallows when you were younger."

"She still doesn't," Mom snickered, setting her 'almost gold marshmallow' back near the fire embers.

"I don't tell you guys how to live your lives so don't tell me how to roast my marshmallows." I laughed, looking down and seeing the black fluff melting off of my stick. I grabbed another one from my hoodie pocket─something else that my parents tease me for─and stuck the the thing into the fire. Watching the flames engulf the marshmallow, I pulled it out and blew on it before plopping it into my mouth. The taste of the bitter burnt outer layer balanced with the sweet and gooey inner part. "Delicious," I mumbled with a mouthful.

***

It was now midnight. The moon was at its brightest and the stars glittered the black sky. I was still outside by the fire. My parents and grandmother went to bed a while ago, leaving me to myself. Do I have a problem with that? Hell no. I was internally cheering when they announced it.

Sometimes if I looked hard enough into the fire, I start to see faces and figures appear in the flames. It's probably just my imagination running wild, but it's something fun to do. I've always done it.

Tonight I saw dances. Two tiny red figures intertwined their hands and began to move gracefully along the flames. I smiled, imagining the couple as Eddie and me. They looked so happy, falling and stumbling into each other's arms. I wrapped myself up in my hoodie more as a gust of chilling wind blew. The fire rapidly shook and almost extinguished, but grew once more. The dancers returned, but something felt off, as if my eyes were really seeing them, because I wasn't 'controlling' them.

The loud crack of a gunshot went off, and I turned in the direction from which it came, but I didn't think anything of it. There's a farm down the road and they're always shooting, even this late at night. Turning back to my regular position, I noticed that the male figure was lying down with the female hovering over him, holding him. I curiously leaned in closer to get a better look, but it seemed that the image kept shrinking. Getting to the point where I was on my bare knees in front of the blazing fire, something made me realize that the boy had been shot and the girl was crying over him. I definitely was not imagining this. I couldn't be. Why would I?

It felt as if I was in a trance. I kept staring even though the image was gone. It still felt as if something was there. The colors of the fire started forming something, and in the end, it was a vague outline of a face. Scorching, blood red eyes appeared that made me sick to my stomach. Lunging forward, it screamed, "Cavere!"

I fell backwards and the fire disappeared, leaving me in the dark, absolutely confused and petrified.
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A/N: Sorry if this chapter was like. . .weird. I dunno, I just love campfires so I wanted to incorporate that into this somehow and half of this chapter was born. I have the next chapter completely written. Should I post it now?

Thank you to all of my readers and I hope you are enjoying and will enjoy the rest of this book, because a whole damn lot is gonna happen.

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