BlackMoon Beginnings (23 page)

Claire puts a mug of coffee in front of me,
jolting me out of my thoughts. I smile at her and thank her. The
cup is warm. I bring it up to my lips and swallow some. It is
hotter than I anticipated. I start coughing as the scalding liquid
travels down my throat. Tom slaps me on the back with a giant thud.
Wincing, I nod at him, telling him that I am fine. That’s going to
leave a mark. I take smaller sips, trying to quickly swallow so I
can’t taste it for too long.

I sit at the table for a couple more minutes,
before venturing back upstairs. I feel slightly more awake now. No
one is in the hallway anymore, so I continue walking until I hear
voices. Hearing my name, I stop outside the doorway.

“I’m worried about Ryanne, guys. I think
something is wrong with her,” says Emma.

“I agree. I was watching her earlier and she
seemed to have trouble standing on her own. She kept leaning on
everything whenever we stopped walking,” Logan responds. “I wanted
to tell her that I may be able to help, but I didn’t want to draw
any attention to her. If it’s just simple exhaustion, she just
needs to sleep.”

Goosebumps rise on my skin and I start
shivering. The hall is freezing cold. I quietly walk back to my
room and unzip my suitcase searching for a sweatshirt. Of course I
didn’t pack one. I walk back to the entertainment room and
interrupt their conversation.

“Does anyone have a sweatshirt I can wear? I
forgot to pack one.” I’m visibly shaking at this point. Seeing me,
Colton jumps up and leaves the room. Logan walks over to me and
grabs my shoulders, turning me towards him. He closes his eyes and
concentrates. After a couple of seconds, he shakes his head and
reopens his eyes. Colton comes back into the room, carrying a
sweatshirt. I gratefully take it from him and put it on. It’s way
too long and covering my shorts completely, but it is warm, so I
don’t care.

“There’s nothing I can do. Her body is not
used to having so much power inside. That and the lack of sleep.
You’re exhausted, Ryanne. Why don’t you go to lie down?”

“I’m fine.” I brush past him and sit at the
end of the couch, near Liam.

“No you’re not. Quit being so stubborn. Do
you want to pass out again?” I ignore him and bring my legs up to
my chest and pull the bottom of the sweatshirt over them. Colton’s
sweatshirt is so big on me; I don’t have to worry about stretching
it out. No one moves; they all just watch me.

“Please stop staring at me. You know how I
feel about the staring. I’ll be fine.”

“Ryanne, we care about you. We don’t want
anything to happen to you,” says Colton.

I yawn and lean down, so I am resting against
the armed cushion of the couch, “I know, but there’s nothing to
worry about.” I close my eyes. “I’m fine.”

I am walking down a darkened hallway; candles
casting eerie shadows along the walls. It goes on for miles, an end
not in sight. I keep turning around, hearing footsteps mirroring my
own, but no one is there. I don’t know where I am or where I’m
walking to. Nothing is visible on either end.

After a while, I see movement in front of me.
A male figure appears. “Larkin?” Moving closer, his features begin
to morph into someone else; his hair lengthening, frame
shortening.

Taking small steps towards me, he smiles
wickedly, “Hello Ryanne.” I try to scream, but nothing comes out. I
turn around and run as fast as I can down the hallway. I can hear
him running after me. A hand pushes into my back sending me falling
forward, crashing into the hard ground. Dust and dirt stirs around
me. My lungs instantly protest against the foreign materials I just
inhaled. Once I roll over, a foot comes down on my stomach, pinning
me to the ground. “Let’s finish what we started.”

My scream finally comes out as he bends down,
dagger in hand.

He is going to kill me. There is nothing I
can do. My body is paralyzed with fear. The look in his eyes is
more feral than the previous times I’ve seen him. A high pitched
noise echoes through the room.

“Ryanne, wake up.”

Gasping, I open my eyes and see Colton, Liam,
and Logan standing over me. I am still lying on the couch in the
entertainment room; a movie is paused on the television screen. The
high pitched noise was my scream. I roll over hiding my face from
everyone, but I can’t stop the tears as my body is racked with
sobs.

“Dude, I thought you said that you were
trying to help her with the nightmares!” yells Colton.

“I’ve been trying!” says Liam equally as
upset. “I don’t like seeing her like this either. I can’t get them
all the time. She’s blocking me somehow.”

Finally able to control my tears, I still.
The room is silent and I am sure everyone is waiting on me. I sit
up slowly and push my hair out of my face. Without thinking about
it, I use the sleeves of Colton’s sweatshirt to wipe my tears away.
Some mascara rubs off as well. I tuck my knees underneath me and
avoid everyone’s eyes.

“I’m sorry I interrupted your movie.”

After no one replies, I slowly lift my eyes.
I’m lost in a pair of green eyes, looking at me wanting to help,
but not knowing what to do.

“Adam?” whispers Colton. I nod and drop my
head into my hands.

“He keeps trying to kill me.” I say barely
audible. “I try running, but he always catches me and knocks me
down. I become paralyzed with fear. The last thing I remember is
him reaching towards me with a dagger in his hand, smiling. He’s
always there.
Always
.”

“How long?”

Looking back up, I look at Colton and say,
“Almost every night since Liam rescued me. They are usually
different, but always end the same.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Because there is nothing anyone could do.” I
look down at the sleeves of the sweatshirt. “I’m sorry I stained
your sweatshirt. This is the second time I’ve ruined your clothes.”
I can’t sit here anymore, with everyone looking at me. I want to
get up and punch something….do something. Anything.

As if reading my mind, Colton grabs my arms
and pulls me off the couch. “Come on.” He pulls me out of the
room.

“Where are we going?”

“To train.” That instantly gets my attention,
exhaustion forgotten. “Let’s go destroy something.” Looking over my
head, he yells, “You guys coming?”

Two hours later, I am lying on my back in the
yard, trying to catch my breath. It feels excellent destroying all
the dead logs around the yard and trying to disarm Liam and Colton.
Training was the distraction that I needed. I feel more awake now
than I have in a while.

Rolling on my side, I face Colton. “Thank
you. That helped. A lot.” He rolls over and smiles at me. I can’t
draw my eyes away from his face, his eyes specifically. Every time
he looks at me, I have trouble breathing. He seems to have the same
difficulty. Reaching out, he slowly tucks a loose strand of hair
behind my ear.

Hearing giggles across the yard, I break my
eyes from Colton and sit up, attempting to hide my blush. David is
chasing Emma across the yard. She pushes with all her might to try
and get away from him. Watching them makes me smile. Standing up, I
lean back, keeping my eyes on them and ask Colton, “When do you
think they’ll realize that they are both crazy about each
other?”

Putting his arm across my shoulder, he
replies, “Knowing David….probably never.” David runs over and grabs
Emma around the waist, pulling her towards him. Her smile is
infectious. I hope to someday have something like that.

“I hope they come to their senses soon. No
one wants to see them pining after each other anymore.” I say, but
don’t mean. It is endearing to see them together. It is like
watching a romantic comedy—a friendship that slowly turns into
more.

“Dinner is ready!” yells Claire from the
kitchen. I walk away from Colton and over towards Logan and Liam,
who are trying to pick up all the larger pieces of wood to put into
the pile for the fireplace. I concentrate on the pieces and thrust
my power out, connecting small pieces of energy onto each wood
piece. Forcing them to come together, I create a smaller pile near
the house.

I smile sweetly at them when I see their
mouths hanging open in surprise. “You’re welcome.”

Walking past everyone, I head into the
kitchen and stop short when I see four extra people. People I’ve
never seen before: a man, in his low twenties, two teenagers, and a
small child. Colton slams into my back when he comes into the room.
Steadying me, he looks around the room and runs over to greet the
man at the table.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here? Where are
your parents?”

“Working, but Tom called us over. Haven’t
seen you guys in a while, thought we could catch up.”

“Awesome. Yeah, that sounds great. Oh,
Conner, this is Ryanne. Ryanne, this is Conner. Natasha and
Natalie, they’re twins, and Madison. They used to be our neighbors
a while ago.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.” I smile at them.
Natasha glares at me while Natalie stands at her side quietly.
Conner and Madison seem nice enough though. “Oh, Claire, do I have
time to go take a quick shower. I feel gross.”

“Of course. I just said dinner was ready to
get everyone to start cleaning up. I forgot how quickly you could
finish it for them.” Laughing, I walk out of the room and back up
the stairs into the bedroom. After a quick shower, I change back
into a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt. Being in a much better
mood than I have been in a while, I skip down the stairs.

Ugh, she’s back. Slut. Look at what she’s
wearing. Her shorts are way too short and her shirt is super tight.
She just wants attention. This is my only chance at getting Colton
back…if she ruins it…

I turn towards Natasha and ask, “What’s wrong
with what I’m wearing?”

“W—what? H-how?”
How did she know
that?

“Ryanne can read minds,” explains David.
Crap. Turn them off. Don’t think about Colton.
Grunting,
Natasha stalks out of the room.

“I’m great with new people, can’t you tell?”
I ask Conner, trying not to smile.

She’s pretty. I wonder if she’ll play with
me.

Bending down, I stop at eye-level with
Madison. “Thank you. You’re very pretty too.” She giggles and jumps
up to give me a hug.

“Looks like you made a new friend,” Conner
says.

Claire calls out from the kitchen, “Ok,
someone go get Natasha. Dinner’s ready.”

I follow everyone into the kitchen. I turn to
Logan, “Are my shorts too short?” I ask him.

He looks me over once and shakes his head.
“No, I don’t think so. Why?” I can’t really tell if he’s being
serious or not.

“Natasha said my shorts were too short and my
shirt was too tight. Apparently, I want attention.”

“Well, she doesn’t know you very well, now
does she? Ignore her,” he tells me.

I nod and sit down at the table, between Emma
and Liam. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on pushing their thoughts
back into the mental box in my mind.

“What the heck is she doing? Praying?” says
Natasha.

“She’s blocking your thoughts. Unless you’d
rather
have her read your mind all night,” Logan explains a
little rudely. Natasha glares at him. I look over at him and smile.
It is nice to know that I’m not the only one that doesn’t like
Natasha. Her twin, Natalie, just sits to her left looking down at
her empty plate.

Logan is sitting in front of me, Natasha to
his side and Colton beside her. Throughout the whole dinner,
Natasha keeps touching Colton’s arm and flirtingly flipping her
perfect blonde hair over her shoulder. I’m a little envious of how
straight and smooth her hair is compared to my curly mess. I look
around the table…all the girls are blonde. Is that another mage
thing? Logan keeps telling me jokes, trying to keep the
conversation going. It actually works.

“Ok, if you on a reality television show
called Elevator Shenanigans. What would you do?”

“Elevator Shenanigans? That’s the best you
could come up with?” I ask. I can’t help but laugh.

“Yes, now what would you do?” Logan asks.

“Hmm, I’m not sure, what would you do?”

“I’d stand really close to everyone that came
in. Maybe occasionally smell them. Pretend that I’ve met them
before.”

“Smell them?”

“Yes, got anything better missy?”

“Hmm, I think it would be really funny to
stare at a person for a long time, making your eyes get larger and
larger, until they can’t get any bigger,” I demonstrate that. “When
they ask what’s wrong, start backing away, until you hit the wall,
and point a finger at them at the same time. Once they start
squirming and right before the elevator opens, whisper ‘You’re one
of THEM’ and then run out screaming.” I start laughing before I
finish talking.

Logan joins me and I end up laughing so hard
that I snort, sending us both into another fit of laugher. I cover
my mouth to try and quiet my laugh a little. Liam and Emma, who had
both heard our conversation, are laughing with us.

“Oh gosh, my stomach hurts.” Logan says.
Finally taking a deep breath, I’m able to calm the laugher. The
table is awkwardly silent. Tom, Claire, and Colton are smiling at
us, probably happy that for once I’m not about to pass out or
anything. Avoiding everyone’s eyes, I glance down at my lap. One
last giggle escapes and I glance up at Logan to see him still
smiling.

“You totally have to do that sometime. It
would be hilarious coming from you,” says Logan.

“I don’t think so. I’ll video-tape it and you
do it. We could be YouTube stars!”

Colton looks around the table, “Does anyone
else feel really out of that conversation?”

“You had to be here man,” says Logan.

“I was here,
man
.” Colton does his
best imitation of Logan.