Beggin'

Chapter 1

Clara

There was something in the air, something charged and electric. It was overwhelming and completely unnoticed by everyone except me. It was the calm before the storm, the darkness creeping towards the moon as the sun begins to banish it from the earth. And there he was, standing on the outpost, his dark olive eyes meeting mine, the eerie sound of crows surrounding us. Emotions running high as we're engulfed in an undeniable tension. Butterflies start to flutter in my stomach, and my legs go weak as he starts to walk towards me. Step by step by step and still I'm unable to breathe in his undeniable prescence, when finally he reaches towards me. A hand cupping the back of my neck as-

The loud screeching of my alarm goes off and in shock I jump, falling out of bed.
"No, no, no!"
As much as I would like to say this was the first time I pulled an all-nighter in the middle of a school week, I would be lying through my teeth. This was not the first time, nor the last time I would read into the night because the 'enemies' brushed hands and maintained heated eye contact.

I yawn, still sprawled on the floor, tangled in my various blankets and try to grasp at any possible energy that hadn't gone into reading. There was clearly nothing except for a dire need of coffee that finally got me to drag myself up and head downstairs, book tucked under my arm, holding my page. I didn't need to look in the mirror to know that today I would look like a raccoon, with the dark circles that only got darker since the first week of school.

It was to bad that I wasn't the chosen one that was part of the prophecy, and instead stuck here. Having to go to school, pretend that I actually like the people in my class, and have a messed up sleeping schedule. Yikes! My life is boringly simple and dull, except for my imagination. Now that is a wild thing that I have absolutely no control over, especially when I have no love life whatsoever.

There's nothing more to say except that I get dressed, eat breakfast, read a couple more chapters, head to school, survive school, and collapse on my bed when I get home for a quick power nap before volleyball.

I wish I could say that I felt something strange in my stomach as I looked up at the sky, or that I could feel a brisk change in the air as the breeze floated past, sending shivers down my spine. But really all I could tell you is that something curious started to happen on my drive to practice, something that ignited a new fantasy in my head. Dark, shadowed butterflies chasing after the high of dangerous things.

My older sister had just gotten her permit and needed the extra practice so she drove while my dad sat in the front correcting her mistakes. I groaned with annoyance, dramatically telling my mom that I was too young to die, but she just told me to get in the car. I popped my airpods into both ears to block out the bickering in the front seat and clicked on my new dark romance playlist I had just created for the new book I was reading.

While dark, haunting music blasted in my ears and a new fantasy arised from the depths of my mind, I sink lower into my seat, the air conditioning making goosebumps spread across my arms and legs. I shiver and look out the window, towards the sunny but crisp autumn world.

Right now is when the first curious thing that happens, we're driving at a snail paste and approaching the factory we pass by everyday. I look up at the sky above it, watching the gray smoke floating out from the pipe and drifting away when all of sudden it turns into a green the shade of the wicked witch of the west. I blink once, twice it's still there! A third time and it's gone, like it was never there before. I shake my head, I must be more sleep deprived than I thought.

We make a turn and drive away from the factory and the color-changing smoke and head to the gas station since were running low. I take a deep breath in and fall into the deep echoes of my music once more, pushing the green smoke from my mind.