In the Light of the Moon

|TWO

I woke up to the sun painfully shining from the outside of my eyelids. Why would I fall asleep outside? I felt a person's—no, two people's—approaching footsteps. I quickly sat up—which wasn't a good idea because my head swam. I groaned and laid back down.

"Hey, take it easy," a familiar voice told me.

Then the memories rushed back: I went for a jog, my migraine returned, I discovered two boys following me, and I must've fainted. Maybe I inhaled too much paint fumes. Two figures leaned over me—Derek and a boy I didn't recognize. The unfamiliar boy had sandy-blond hair with cobalt-blue eyes that sparkled with awe. Why is he looking at me like that? Probably because of my hair and eyes and birthmark. Like Derek, he was equally tanned and muscular. Maybe they're coworkers. They also seemed around the same age.

Oh, my goddess, you're right! Her power is way strong! the unfamiliar boy said. My eyes widened—he didn't open his mouth! What—? How—?

I know, right? Derek responded, again without opening his mouth. Derek turned his gaze to me. "Are you all right? We found you on the ground."

Lies.

"Um, yeah... I'm fine, "I muttered. He held out his hand; I hesitantly took it. When our skin made contact, he froze, and his irises started to glow and take on a deeper caramel appearance. I gasped. "You're eyes!"

He blinked, and they returned to their normal brown color. "W-what are you talking about? They're fine, right, Erik?"

Erik immediately nodded. "Right, completely normal..." Even from here, I knew he forced it.

I nodded; I knew they hid something, but I couldn't figure out what it is. "Well, thanks for checking up on me. I should be going."

"Okay. Do you want us to go with and make sure you don't, you know, faint again?"

I shook my head; I already regret showing you where I live. "No, I'm good."

He agreed, and I started for my house. Is there something wrong with me? First, the two giant migraines, a nosebleed, then fainting. And how did they talk without opening their mouths? Maybe ventriloquism? But what teenager nowadays knows ventriloquism?

☾

The next day, I started on the second part of painting my room—the walls. I drew spiky, cone shapes that stopped about four inches from the ceiling and painted the negative space black, blue, and indigo with white spots—in the same way as earlier. Next, I painted the cone shapes different shades of green: an emerald-green, a basil-green, and a dark green. Finally, I painted azure, light blue, baby blue in a flowing motion.

When I finished, I took a minute to marvel at my creation. On the ceiling, I painted a starry night with a full moon and pine trees on all four walls. And there was a river bubbling its way through the forest. I glanced down at myself and laughed; paint covered me from head to toe. I couldn't see it, but there's probably splotches of paint in my hair.

I decided to run into town with nothing else to do and sit in a coffee shop for a while; I craved coffee. My parents had our car, so I walked. Sadly, when I ordered my coffee and sat down, the sun had mostly set. After about fifteen minutes, I finished my coffee and left the small shop. As I passed an alley, I heard a girl tell someone to get off of her.

I ducked behind a dumpster in the alleyway and scanned the scene. A man had a girl by the bicep; the man and the woman seemed the same age and looked a few years older than me. They both glared at each other.