mark of the moon child

The Sights

"Elle? Are you okay? What happened?" Mia had rushed to Elle's side when she saw her suddenly wake gasping for air. "Was it a bad dream again?"

"Yeah, um. I'm okay. It was just really intense." Elle's voice was horse. It was almost as if she'd been screaming through an entire concert - or over the screams of dark creatures. Her chest moved up and down, struggling to take slower breaths.

"Elle, you're shaking. Oh, my God!" Mia exclaimed as she lifted Elle's left arm and Elle hissed from the sudden pang of pain. "What happened? How did you get this?" Panic filled her. Elle looked over to the deep bleeding cut on her side.

"I, uh, I don't know." All of a sudden her head felt heavy yet light, all at once. She fell backwards and fainted onto the sand.

When she woke again, she found herself staring at a white ceiling with fluorescent lights. She opened her eyes more, though it proved more difficult than usual, and looked around to see white walls, a blue door, the bed she lay in with tape and other things she couldn't quite make out on her hands, and -

"Jay?" She tried to push herself up but quickly became lightheaded and grimaced at the discomfort of the stitches holding her wound closed.

"Take it easy." He said, reaching over to help her lay down again.

"Where am I? What's going on?"

"You're in the hospital. You had a bit of a spell."

"A spell? I-" Then suddenly her eyes shot open. "The dream! You were there! I saw everything so clearly this time and everything felt so real and-" She hissed when she tried to sit up again, feeling the pull of her stitches. She slowly laid back down. "The creature," She said as she touched the bandage on her side. "It cut me with.. with its fingers?" She looked back to Jay. His jaw tensed as he looked at her waist.

"I'm sorry that happened. I should have been quicker and protected you."

"Protected me? From what?"

"Yeah, from what?" Elle spun her head back to the door and found Mia holding two pudding cups and spoons. But she wasn't looking at Elle. She was staring at Jay. "Elle?"

"You - you can see him?" Elle threw her head back and forth. Jay simply looked down to the floor. "You can see him?"

"Elle, who is this?" Mia watched the man dressed in all black with a large tattoo coming from his collar, his dark hair swept backwards.

"Mia you can.. Jay how can she see you?" He simply signed.

"Close the door and I'll tell you everything." Mia, though never breaking eye contact with him, closed the door behind her and approached the other side of the bed where she laid a protective hand over Elle's.

"The day you ran across the road to save the little girl-"

"What little girl? He was there that day?" Mia asked turning to Elle.

"I know you thought I just ran across the street because I was still in a dream, and it almost felt like it. But that day I saw a little girl run across the street because this big dark creature was chasing after her." Elle filled Mia in on the story. "And then I ran into him. Into Jay. And it was like I knew him already. Like from a dream."

"A dream. The dreams you've been having for years now." Mia filled in.

"What you call your dreams, we call The Sights." Jay informed them. Elle turned to look at him with more questions in her eyes. Dark circles dug deep below her eyes. He should have been quicker. "What you see in your dreams are things that have happened, things that will happen, and some are messages, warnings."

"Messages from who?" Elle asked.

"What do you mean 'we call'. Who's 'we'?" Mia wanted to know. Her body was frozen and her mind reeling.

"The Light. Half angel, half human, raised and trained to fight The Dark so the human race stays safe." Jay explained, though not a thing made sense to Mia, still.

"Who are the messages from?" Elle asked again.

"The Angels." Jay stood, walked to the window, and leaned against it facing them again. "I think they've been trying to tell you something."

"But.. I'm human. How can I be seeing these things? How can Mia see you now when she couldn't before?"

"Because of these." Jay lifted the hem of his shirt to show different symbols that seemed inked into the skin of his very toned stomach. Elle had to remind herself the focus. "This one," He said pointing towards a symbol shaped like what seemed to be an eye. "Keeps us hidden from humans. Except for those we allow ourselves to be seen by."

"You allowed me to see you on the road that day?"

"No, I didn't. That's what leaves me confused."

"Why me?" Mia asked.

"Because she trusts you." He said simply. Mia looked at Elle and smiled weakly. She wished Elle had trusted her enough to tell her what had been going on. Jay rested his gaze on Elle and frowned.

"What?" Elle asked.

"I," Jay began but found himself looking at the floor instead.

"Jay, what are you thinking?"

"There is a way we can find out." He said, though his frown furrowed deeper. "Why you can see me, why you're having the sights."

"Really?" Elle's eyes grew wide, she'd wanted to know for so long. So many questions had rung through her head over the years. Now finally she could find the answers. "How?"

"The Grotto Of Truth."

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Hi, how are ya? How ya doing?

So... terribly sorry if you find my story and think the chapters are short. I feel like they're shorter than other stories I've been reading... oops. I have a bunch of prewritten chapters from a while back and just posting those now. I'm trying to make the new chapters longer (though failing big time so far).

Let me know if  you care.. whether you're like "meh, it's cool" or more "please make them longer!"

Also, here's a quote I saw and needed to hear today :

"Burnout is more of an issue of poor energy management and low clarity than of over-giving." - Brendon Burchard