Chapter 1

Story 7: Don't look at the Moon

Sirens tore across the silence of the night, filling the tiny apartment. Eyes still crusted with sleep, blind flailing was my only option as I felt around for my phone.

I had managed to knock it off the nightstand, barely catching it by the charger, and reeling it up carefully. The alarm was still blaring, and the beginnings of a headache were coming on.

I managed to make the sounds stop, but across the top of the screen, a notification from the government that stayed stuck. It was one phrase, repeated over and over on a loop.

"Don't look at the moon. Don't look at the moon. Don't look at the moon. Don't look at the moon."

Below it new notifications were streaming in, from almost every app. Snapchat, instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, even apps like the weather and calendar apps. They all said pretty much the same thing.

"It's a beautiful night tonight. It's a beautiful night tonight. Look at the moon. Look outside. The moon is so beautiful tonight."

My hands moved on their own, reaching out for the curtains. It... it was like something was controlling me, willing me to look outside. I grabbed the hand, moving back as quickly as I could.

I wasn't in control of myself. It was magnetic, drawing me in. I fought to resist it. My hand quivered with strain as it stretched forwards, against my will. Fear laced my heart, sending what felt like lead through my veins.

Something... something is very wrong with the moon.

My body became fully my own again, and I scrambled away from the window, towards the edge of the bed. My phone began to vibrate and ring in my hand, and I jumped, dropping it.

The screen was lit up, hundreds of calls and texts from numbers I didn't even know. Text messages too. The phone felt like a hot coal in my hand as fear courses through me.

Before I realized what I was doing, my phone was across the room, slamming in to the wall and landing face up on the floor, screen shattered as it continued to buzz.

Moon light was painting the wall of my room, from a gap in the curtain and wall. It was entrancing. Even just the small slivers of moon light. It was beautiful. So light. So pure. I need to look at the moon.

The moon is so beautiful. I need to look at the moon.

Thoughts that weren't mine filled my head, in a thousand different voices. All repeating the same thing. I could feel whatever it was pulling my body forwards, against my will.

The moon is beautiful. I need to look a the moon.

The thing controlling my body was moving towards the curtains, reaching out to them. It was an almost irresistible tug. I almost wanted to give in. My hands shook, fingertips almost brushing the curtains as the body moved forwards, so that it could fully grab them.

Suddenly the my body was falling, as I watched my head collide with the window sill. Pain ripped through me as I laid there, gaining control again. The curtain had been moved and I could see the moon's light from behind my eyelids.

Keep them closed. I ordered myself silently as I crawled across the floor towards my desk. A sticky warmth had started to run down my face, sticking my hair together, and to my neck.

Blood. It must be blood. The realization was surprisingly calm, but my heart was still racing as I finally found the wooden leg of the desk with my hands.

The pain was nothing compared to the fear. I flailed around the desk, throwing papers and anything else that wasn't useful. My fingers passed over something cold and metal, and I grabbed it, running my hands along its shape. A stapler, something useful.

Stapling through the curtains was surprisingly easy. I don't know if it was because strength or the adrenaline, but my heart pounded a million miles an hour as I crawled across the freezing floor, towards to other curtain.

Even when they were finally stapled shut, I didn't trust myself to open my eyes. What if something happened, like before? I wasn't going to risk it. No way.

The emergency alerts began to sound again, but I couldn't move to turn them off. The fear had taken control of me, leaving me sobbing as I cowered in the closet, sobbing behind tightly clenched eyes.

What was happening?

Sirens had started to sound outside, as well as gunshots. I didn't want to think about what it could be but my mind betrayed me, pulling out thoughts of riots and murder in the streets.

The lights flickered on for a brief moment, and I screamed, burying my eyes as deeply as I could in to my palms, shaking in the pitch black closet.

The sirens had started again, and my head began to pound. I could feel the blood slowly running down my chest, sticking my clothes to my skin. I was feeling light headed. Loosing too much blood... the thought was fuzzy in my head.

A loud knock on the door sounded, sending more fear through me. My whole body was shaking.

"Diane," a male voice rang through the apartment, oddly clearly. "Open up your..." his voice faded out as the alarms got louder.

Suddenly I shot up, eyes open, knocking foreheads with a man. I looked around the room eyes wide. I was in a bedroom. Blue bed sheets, a robe hanging on one of the two doors. Photos were scattered about. It was my room. I was in my room. It was just a dream.

"Hey what's wrong Diane?"

My head was pounding as I reached up, pressing against it in an attempt to somehow soothe the pain. "Why does my head feel like I got run over by a stampede of rhinos?"

"I warned you not to drink that much. You didn't listen. And you owe me five bucks."

"How about you go make coffee and I'll tell you about this crazy dream I had."

He stood up, smiling at her. "It's a deal."

———
This is a prompt from @writing.prompt.s on instagram.

"It's 3 AM, an official phone alert wakes you up. It says "do not look at the moon." You have hundreds of notifications. Hundreds of random numbers are sending 'it's a beautiful night tonight. Look outside.' "

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