Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 25

Trigger Warning! ⚠️Mentions of 0verd0$!ng, m*rder, @lc0h0l, and $u!c!de

"When was the last time this happened?!" Margret demanded pulling me into her room. "About a night ago," I told her, "Why?" "It's only happened once, right?" she asked. I nodded, "Yeah, why?" "Because you could have died," she told me. "WHAT!?" I shouted, "What do you mean I could have died!?" "I'll explain," Margaret said, "But first you need to calm down." I took a deep breath and tried to slow my heart rate. "Explain," I demanded. "You entered the dream state," she explained, "It's a place where entities meet to talk without having to leave the safety of their home. It isn't used casually, only if it's urgent or if entities are in danger, and it is very rare for humans to be able to enter but it is possible." "Does that mean I'm one of the few humans that can enter the dreamscape?" I asked. "Maybe," she said, "But there are other explanations. One is you were pulled in while someone nearby was entering. Two you could have subconsciously joined someone else's meeting or three they could have accidentally invited you but that is very unlikely." "So, you think I was pulled in?" I asked. "Yes, that's the most likely scenario." "But who would have been entering the dreamscape?" I frowned. "Greer," Margret stated, "All world keepers are taught how to safely enter and leave the dreamscape. We long suspected Greer taught the demons how to do it. This just confirms it." "So you think they were meeting with one of the demons," I said. Margret nodded, "Yes." "So, if I was able to enter the dreamscape again and I got a good look at Greer's face I could figure out who they were, right?" I asked. Margret shook her head, "No, you can't see their faces unless you were invited to the meeting. It's how safety is ensured, and even if you saw Greer's face they would kill you, and if you die in the dream state you die in the actual world too."

"Oh," I said disappointed. There goes that plan, guess we'll have to find another way to figure out who Greer is. "Now then," Margaret said, "Since there's still the possibility that you might be dragged back in, I need to tell you how to exit the dreamscape. You got lucky last time, normally if you don't know how to exit you would have been stuck there and your body would go into a coma." That's not good. Being in a coma won't help my friends. "How do I leave?" I asked, "Is there a magic door that appears or something?" "No, the dreamscape is a mental realm. Your mind needs to return to your physical body so when you want to leave, picture, where your body was then you can find your way back." "Okay," I nodded, "How do I get to the dreamscape?" "You can't," Margret replied, "I'm banking on the fact you were pulled in by Greer, and even if you weren't I don't want you going back." "Why not?" I asked, "It might be helpful!" "Because that place is dangerous," she replied, "You may not know it but right now bigger things are going on outside of your world and you don't need to get any more involved in them." "What's going on?" I asked. "That's none of your business, but it's the reason all of this is happening, and I will have you know there is nothing you can do about it so don't try to help. This needs to be sorted out by certain people." "So, it's like an argument or something?" I pried. "That's how it started off but now it's way bigger than that," Margret sighed, "Don't worry about it. You have enough on your plate already. Now shoo, go back to your friends before they break something." I nodded and stepped out of the room, "Okay, how do I get back?" "Viva," Margret said, "Let Luke get back to his friends. No tricks, just a straight path." I swear I heard the library sigh. "The library's name is Viva?" I asked. Margret nodded, "Yep, it only felt right to name her since she's alive."

"Makes sense," I hummed walking in the direction I came, "Thanks for your help." "No problem," Margret replied, "I'm glad you came." I quickly made my way back to my friends. I heard them before I saw them. There was a deafening crash and cursing. When I got there, I saw Jack and Anna trying to restrain an infuriated Ella while Leo tried to get as far away from her as possible. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" I shouted looking at Anna and Jack for an explanation. As soon as they heard my voice all heads turned toward me. Anna looked relieved and Jack let out a small sigh, Ella looked a bit calmer once she saw me. And Leo looked like a scared kitten that just got saved from a dog. I glanced around the room; nothing had been broken but a few things had been knocked over. "Who would like to explain what happened?" I asked in a no-nonsense tone. "Ella and Leo got into an argument," Jack explained, "She wanted to know where you went, Leo told her he didn't know, and she thought he did something to you. So, she tried to attack him, and he tried to run away but just ended up tripping and knocking stuff over which gave us time to grab Ella, and then you came in." "I went to ask Margret a question," I sighed, "It took me a while to find her." "You should have told one of us," Anna whined, "We were worried about you." "Yeah," Ella said, "Especially now that we know one of us is the leader of a demon army." "Sorry," I apologized, "But Ella can you please tell me why you decided to attack Leo?" "Because I don't trust him!" Ella exclaimed. "Well, what would make you trust him?" I asked annoyed. "It would be nice if he explained a few things," she stated. I turned to Leo, "Would you like to answer a few of her questions so that this doesn't happen again?" I questioned. Leo shifted uncomfortably but nodded, "Sure." "Ask your questions," I said to Ella. "First question," Ella said, "How do you know how to pickpocket? And why didn't you tell us sooner?" Leo frowned not wanting to answer the questions.

"My next-door neighbor taught me," he sighed, "And I didn't tell you sooner because I was hoping we would come up with some other way out. It's not a skill you tell people." "How did your neighbor learn how to pick locks? Who was he hanging out with that knew this stuff?" She asked. "He was part of a gang," Leo explained, "He was also my babysitter, when I was around eight, he started to teach me what he learned." "A gang?" Ella questioned, "Did you join?" A look of unease flashed across Leo's face. "Yeah, I joined when I was eleven, I was their best pit pocket, but I left when I was fourteen. Why does it matter to you?" he asked getting defensive. Wow, that explains quite a bit. It's probably, why he's so good a lying too. No wonder he doesn't like telling people he knows how to pit pocket. It opens a whole new rabbit hole. "Why did you leave?" Jack asked. "I didn't like where everyone else was ending up," Leo said, "My neighbor ended up overdosing and a lot of the others were getting thrown in jail or killed by other gangs. Some became alcoholics others ended up killing themselves, and I decided I didn't want to end up like that." "Hm," Ella said thinking about his reply, "Okay one last question. Did your parents know you were doing this stuff? Or did they not care enough about you to pay attention?" Ella had struck a nerve. It showed on Leo's face and in his eyes. "I don't think I need to answer that question," he spat, "And I'm not answering anymore." Ella nodded, "Okay, we'll I'm turning in for the night? Or is it the morning? Either way, I'm going to sleep." "Margret gave us some sleeping bags," Anna told her, "They're on the chair." "Okay," Ella replied walking over and grabbing one. Everyone decided to turn in and get some rest. We all grabbed sleeping bags and settled onto the floor. Surprisingly, Anna and Jack were the first to fall asleep considering the fact Ella laid down before them. Ella and Leo fell asleep not long after. The adults had moved to another room for some privacy and to get away from us. I don't blame them though; we are pretty loud.

I lay there for a moment soaking up the peace before finally drifting off to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I noticed almost everyone was up. Ella and Leo were still asleep, and Anna was brushing her short black hair while chatting with a half-awake Jack. Standing up, I stepped over Ella who during the night, somehow managed to flop from one end of the room to the other while still taking up as much floor space as possible. "That's why Anna doesn't like sharing a bed with her," I muttered making my way over to Anna and Jack. As I walked over, I noticed Anna had a whole hair kit in front of her. "Where did you get that?" I asked dumbfounded. "Oh," she smiled, "Margaret let me borrow it!" I smiled and shook my head, of course, Anna made friends with the crazy old witch lady. "Want me to put your hair back for you?" I asked. "Yes please!" She beamed, "Can you put it in two braids?" "I can do that," I told her. I began to braid Anna's hair; it didn't take long for me to finish. They looked decent, a little messy but still pretty good. "Can I do your hair?" Anna asked green eyes shining brightly. I sighed, "What would you be doing to it?" "Just brushing it and putting it in your normal style," she stated, "Besides I already did Jack's, and he looks fine." I glanced over at Jack, his hair was brushed, and his bangs hung down in his eyes like he normally had them. "Fine," I murmured. "YES!" She squealed, yanking the brush out of my hand and getting behind me. She began to brush my hair, suddenly I felt a painful jolt "Ow!" I cried. "Sorry," Anna apologized, "You have a really bad tangle." After she got the tangle out, it didn't take long for her to finish combing the rest of my hair. Not long after Ella started to stir but knowing her it would take about twenty minutes before she could properly function. Leo woke up while Anna was doing my hair, but he wasn't fully awake yet, so I figured it was the perfect time to get him to cooperate. "Hey, Leo," I said, "Can I do your hair? It's messy." Leo looked at me processing what I had said. "Sure?" He murmured sleep still present in his voice. I smiled knowing that once he woke up, he would kill me.

Oh well, that's a problem for future Luke. I grabbed the brush, went over to Leo, and started running the brush through his hair. He woke up in the middle of me brushing his hair. "What are you doing!?" He asked. "Brushing your hair," I stated, "It's a mess." "Who said you could do that!?" He huffed. I smirked, "You did, I asked, and you said yes." Leo looked horrified, "Well I take what I said back! I wasn't awake!" "That's not how it works," I hummed, "You already said yes, besides it's not like you'll do it yourself." Leo glared at me but didn't reply. Once I was done, I glanced around the room looking for my next victim.