One Moonless Night

Chapter 5

     I woke up with a half-scream-half-choked-up-sob, scrambling to turn on my bedside lamp. In my panic, I had swept my alarm clock straight off my bedside table. With a loud thud, my old-as-the-dinosaurs clock crashed onto the ground, bursting into tiny screws, plastic, and wires. With a sigh, I groped around for my phone instead, finding it hiding beneath my pillow. I turned it on, momentarily blinded by the harsh light, before reading the time.

     6:27.

     Knowing that I would not be able to fall back asleep, I groaned before shuffling to my feet, deciding to start the day off early. My stomach then decided that it was time for it to remind me that I was hungry. Rumble. Thanks, stomach, I thought quite grumpily, I think that you are the reason I can't date anyone. So demanding.

     As I made my way to my bedroom door, my foot slammed into a large book. Intense pain hit me like a freight train, and I jumped up and down, holding my foot and cursing.

     "Dang it all to h-e-double-hockey-sticks!" I whisper-yelled, tripping and falling on my face.

     With a loud huff, I grabbed the offending book and made my way to the kitchen, half a mind to throw it in a paper shredder.

     In the kitchen, I turned on the lights, and grabbed a box of lucky charms because after what just happened, I decided that I needed more luck to survive the day. Next, I shoved two hot pockets in the oven, ignoring my inner voice nagging at me for how unhealthy they were. After setting the timer, I turned to the book of pain and examined it closely. It was the ancient book that Mr. Andrews had given me.

     On a strange instinct, I opened the book again, expecting the same blank pages. Suddenly, ink bloomed onto the page, forming words and sentences, like I was in some kind of Harry Potter book.

     "Oh my gosh," I breathed, startled and excited. Looking around, I half expected Mr. Andrews to smash through my front door and tell me the infamous 'You are a wizard, Aria.'

     I opened and closed the book again, making sure that this was not a hallucination. Frowning slightly, I wondered what had changed since the last time I opened the book. With all my brain power, I struggled to recall every single thing that happened after opening the book for the first time.

     "A dream!" I gasped, excitedly. "I had a dream!"

     However, I could not remember any specifics. Try as I might, only a faint vision of a man with a vague name appeared in my mind.

     "Evan? No, it was something with an 'e'," I muttered to myself. "Em, no, Ethan, Elliot, Elijah, no..."

     I cursed myself for not remembering a dream that I had only a couple of minutes ago. Groaning, I held my head in my head.

    "Eon," I whispered. "His name was Eon."

     A strange tingle shot through me at the mention of his name. I shuddered, suddenly feeling hot.

     "What'cha doin'?"

     With a shriek, I jumped about a foot into the air and tripped, landing in a heap on the floor.

     "Clarity! Don't scare me like that for goodness sake! I almost had a heart attack!" I gasped out, wheezing.

     Clarity burst into laughter. "I wasn't trying to scare you, but you didn't hear me coming with your crazy mutterings."

     I scowled in response. "Why in the world are you up so early?"

     "That is a question that I should be asking," Clarity replied, making herself a cup of coffee. "Besides, I have a morning class, remember?"