The Curse of Once Upon a Time

Chapter III: The Middle of the Night

Serenity knew that she wasn't supposed to, but she enjoyed staying up late. She loved the feeling of being the last person awake. It felt like she was awake while the rest of the world was asleep. It was a strange feeling.

Her family went to sleep pretty early. Usually, they were all in bed by ten. So after ten, Serenity had free roam of the house. She tried to stay quiet. She knew which floorboards creaked, how to open her door so it wasn't squeaky, and which stairs to skip.

She slid out of her bed near midnight, peeking out the window. Aoiski looked different during the middle of the night. Nobody was awake. It was rare that there'd even be a single car on the streets. She'd see a few people walking around, but not many she recognized.

Aoiski was small, but there were still people Serenity hadn't met. People that she didn't really want to meet either. Serenity perked up when she noticed a light turn on. The lights outside always turned off after midnight.

The light was coming from too far away from her to see clearly. Serenity turned from her window and pulled her door open, keeping it quiet. She made her way to the stairs, staying clear of boards that creaked under pressure. She went down the stairs and slid out from the front door.

She wasn't supposed to be out alone so late but considering the handful of rules she'd probably broken just from dinner, Serenity was choosing to ignore that one. She shivered a little in the cool air, walking around the house towards where she'd seen the light.

The lights were almost never on after midnight. Streetlights were set on a timer and people turned their house lights off before they went to sleep. She started to feel like she was being watched as she was getting closer to the light source.

She looked over her shoulder, but there was nobody nearby. She hadn't realized how eerie it felt for their town to be so empty and dark. Aoiski was only ever quiet during the latest hours of the night. Otherwise, it was vibrant with the people.

Serenity was sure that nobody liked staying up late because they feared that ghosts and spirits had more power during the night. Serenity thought the fear was ridiculous, but she enjoyed being the only one awake, so she didn't mind it.

She stopped when she came up to the light source, a little disappointed that it was just an old, plastic lantern sitting on the ground. Nobody was there. Serenity walked over to the lantern. She picked it up and clicked the switch off, looking around for anybody.

Why would they have left the lantern? Maybe they'd turned it on and heard her coming and left. She didn't even know what to do with the lantern now. It was wrong to take it, but if she left it, would anybody come back for it?

Serenity spun around when she heard something, backing up. She was starting to wonder if she was just freaking herself out. There was wind blowing by, so it wasn't insane to assume that it was just the wind.

She shut her eyes and blew out her breath. She just needed to calm herself down before she freaked out. She was only scared because there was nobody else around. Nature was the one making all the sounds.

Serenity felt something grab her arm. She went to spin around, feeling herself being pulled back. She went to scream, but a hand clasped over her mouth, muffling any sound that came out.

"Who are you?"

Serenity shook her head against the person's hand. They moved their arm around her neck to hold her in place, removing their hand from her mouth. With them behind her, she couldn't see them at all. "Who are you?"

"Serenity, err, my name is Serendipity." She said. "What are you doing? What's wrong with you?"

"Last name."