Warhorse

8

Luna woke up the next morning and felt fuzzy. She was incredibly drowsy and slightly uncoordinated. Clarice walked into the room and looked at Luna, sitting down on a stool next to her bed.

"Morning, Luna. How do you feel?" she asked.

"Everything's fuzzy... like I'm still half asleep, but other than that, I'm alright." Luna tried getting out of bed, stumbling a little.

"Whoa, easy there, Luna. I gave you a sleeping drug last night." Clarice supported Luna with one hand.

"What? Why?" Luna was confused.

"It wasn't on purpose; the pain medication just so happened to have the side effect of heavy sleeping." Clarice helped Luna sit down on the bed.

"Oh, okay. Will I be alright?" Luna asked nervously.

"You'll be fine. Just take it easy. Maybe help the townsfolk a bit with their work; that should help." Clarice handed Luna a walking stick to aid her mobility.

"Okay, I'll do that. Thanks, Clarice." Luna took the stick and stood, using it to support herself.

Luna left the clinic and began walking around town. She stopped by Mr. Smith's workshop and sat with him for a minute.

"Glad to see you back up and feeling better," Mr. Smith said.

"Yeah, I don't know what that was yesterday, but I feel better now," Luna responded.

"If you're up for it, I could use your help with some stuff I'm working on here. Mind handing me that sheet metal right there?" Mr. Smith pointed to a large piece of scrap metal sitting across the room.

Luna nodded and stood, feeling less woozy and no longer needing the staff. She walked over, picked up the sheet metal, and brought it to Mr. Smith.

"Thanks, Luna. You're pretty strong for your size." Mr. Smith took the sheet metal and tore it in half like paper.

"Not nearly as strong as you, it seems. I could never do that on my own." Luna was impressed by the man's strength.

Mr. Smith looked at her, then back to the torn sheet metal in his hands, and laughed.

"I suppose you're right; I've always been pretty strong," he continued chuckling.

"Need anything else?" Luna asked.

"Nope, that should be all for today. You can head out if you want." Mr. Smith waved as Luna left his workshop.

Luna thought to herself, 'What the hell just happened? Mr. Smith tore that sheet of metal up like it was nothing! No. Don't think about it, maybe Arden needs some help. I'll go visit him.'

Luna walked into Arden's garden. She saw the slim frame of Arden bent over, inspecting a nearby plant.

"How are you doing, Arden?" Luna asked.

"Oh, I'm alright. Just testing some stuff." Arden turned to talk to her, then turned back around and kept working.

"Anything I can help you with?" Luna leaned over next to Arden.

"Hand me that deadly nightshade right there." Arden pointed to a black-berried plant.

"Sure." Luna picked up the berry and handed it to Arden.

Arden popped the berry into his mouth and began chewing it for a bit before swallowing.

"Whoa! Arden! What did you do that for?" Luna started panicking.

"Just a light snack. Why?" He looked as if nothing was wrong.

"That was deadly nightshade! We need to get you to the clinic immediately!" Luna began tugging on his sleeve.

"What's the matter, Luna? It was just a simple berry," Arden said, an incredibly confused look on his face.

"What are you talking about? That was a deadly nightshade! It's incredibly toxic when ingested. If we don't hurry, you'll be dead!" Luna continued tugging.

"I do it all the time. Deadly nightshade is toxic?" Arden asked.

"Of course it is! It's called deadly nightshade for crying out loud! What do you mean you do it all the time? How are you not dead?" Luna was frantically trying to get Arden out the door.

"I'm fine, Luna, trust me. Now I need to get back to work, so please leave me be." Arden slipped past her and shut the door.

Luna couldn't believe what was happening in this town. First, the magic well disappears; Ms. Baker just vanishes; Mr. Smith can tear metal in half with his bare hands; and Arden is eating poisonous plants like they're fruit! What the hell is going on around here? She needed to get Clarice. Luna ran through town, looking for her. Eventually, she found Clarice at a coffee shop.

"Clarice! Hurry, come with me! Arden is going to die if we don't hurry!" Luna called.

"What? What do you mean?" Clarice asked, standing quickly.

"He's ingested deadly nightshade! If we don't hurry, he will die!" Luna noticed that Clarice was sitting at a table with an older woman.

"Oh, that? He does that all the time; he'll be fine." Clarice sat back down and took a sip from her cup.

"What are you talking about? He's gonna die!" Luna stood next to Clarice.

"Oh, sweetie, don't worry your pretty little head about Arden. He will be just fine," Ms. Baker said from across the table.

"M-Ms... Baker?" Luna's heart stopped in her chest.

"Yes, dear?" Ms. Baker asked.

"Y-Y-You... what..." Luna took a step back.

"Something wrong, Luna?" Clarice said, looking at her.

"You..." Luna looked at Clarice, and in her peripheral vision, it almost looked like Ms. Baker's eyes flashed a harsh yellow.

"Luna, sit and have coffee with us, dear," Ms. Baker said softly.

Luna began feeling her chest tighten. She turned and ran out of the coffee shop. She didn't stop running until she reached a crop field just outside of town. She knelt and clutched her head. This was wrong; Ms. Baker was gone. She disappeared, and her shop went with her. Wait... that's it—the shop! If it was still gone, then she wouldn't be crazy! She made a mad dash to where Ms. Baker's shop had been, and when she arrived, there it was. Ms. Baker's shop had returned as if it had never left. Luna fell to her knees and started laughing.

"This... this is a joke, right? Some kind of prank... it has to be. It has to be! Someone tell me what the fuck is going on in this forsaken town!" Luna screamed into the air while the familiar cloaked figure stared at her from the shadows.