The War of Wind and Moon (Season One)

Chapter Nine

Mia squeezed her eyes closed but pain and swelling forced them open. Instead, she focused on the bloody towel she was holding to her nose, counted to three, then raised her gaze to the ceiling again. The glimmering creature was still there, staring down at her with its lidless eyes atop its beach ball belly, occasionally switching its gaze to her mother on the bed below, but quickly returning it to Mia still lying on the floor. It looked so real. It wasn't solid, she could see the roof meeting the top of the wall through its body, but still... She closed her eyes again, gently this time, and willed away the sense of its presence. Sane people did not see imaginary monsters.

"Mia?" Her mother's voice. Too close. She opened her eyes to find Patricia kneeling in front of her, reaching for the towel. Mia recoiled. "Don't be childish, Mia. I need to see if your nose is broken."

But Mia was more concerned about her eyes. She blinked. Twice. Still, her view of her mother's face was distorted by thousands of tiny yellow flashes of light, dancing in the air between them. Patricia reached toward Mia's face again. Again, Mia flinched. "Don't!" Mia's voice was muffled by the towel over her face but her mother had heard her.

Patricia's eyes widened. The lights dancing in Mia's vision became orange, then red. Fear swelled in Mia's chest. Time seemed to slow. Each heart beat an explosion juddering her ribcage. The flickering of the red lights, too, slowed. Behind them Patricia's lips parted, her chest expanded, drawing a breath to speak. Her fingers curled into the palms of her hands, tightening into fists.

"Leave me alone!" Half whimper, half shriek, the words bypassed Mia's brain, her lips and vocal chords driven by fear. "Please! Just leave me alone!"

Whatever Patricia had planned to say, she swallowed it. Her fists dropped to her sides and her fingers softened, as did her expression. Where there had been rage, now there was confusion. Frowning, she looked into Mia's eyes for a long moment then nodded, got to her feet and left the room.

And then the flat.

At least, it had sounded like she'd left the flat. Her footsteps had padded away from Mia's bedroom, then the front door had opened and closed and now there was silence.

A knock at the window made her jump. Time snapped back, accelerating her heart into a violent frenzy.

"Mia?" Tak's voice through the glass. "Mia? Are you okay?"

She began to raise her head but remembered the state of her face and kept it down.

"I'm fine, Tak!"

"I don't think you are. Let me in."

"I said I'm fine!"

"I can see the blood, Mia. Your mum just wandered out of the driveway in her pyjamas. If you don't let me in I'm calling the police."

That was the last thing she needed. Not until she'd worked out what she wanted to do. She nodded and his shadow disappeared from the window.

It was only then that she realized the red lights had cleared from her eyes. And the creature was gone! Relief surged through her chest. She caught her breath and her heart beat began to slow. The familiar exhaustion that set in after a panic attack began. Was that all it was? The lights, the creature? Hallucinations brought on by a panic attack?

Tak was already banging on the front door. She had to handle him and then work out what to do when her mother returned. Still breathing hard, she leaned against the wall to push herself to her feet. As she made her way to the front door, she risked pulling the towel from her nose and was relieved to find the bleeding had stopped. The pain wasn't so bad anymore, either. If Tak hadn't seen her mother hit her, perhaps he'd believe she'd just had a nose bleed.