Moonchild

CHAPTER FOUR

George, having the gift to change the subject of any conversation we might had like a pro, began talking about his latest watch of one action film, which ended up to be a comedy instead. He managed to make Marie smile for a second, but as soon as she glanced back at me, she went quiet and listened to George going on and on and on about movies and his favourite music. All the while, she was breathing slowly, managing not to hit him on the head. But always throwing him a smile every once in a while, because, as myself, she was happy with the distraction and the change of subject.

I, however, was staying a little behind, not even paying attention to what was being said in front of me. I only had my eyes on my slow-moving footsteps. With every step I took, all of my nightmares kept coming back to me in flashes of a black-and-white blur.

Is this a coincidence, I thought, or am I loosing my mind?

I couldn't connect what happened so far and nothing could help me identify the main source of my nightmares. All I could remember was that from the point of view of my dreams, grey was at the bottom and peach black on the top. There was no light that could help me trace with my eyes further deep into the void. And as soon as i could feel a presence near me, I would wake up in cold sweat and shaking hands.

When I started at Honorae Secondary School I lost count on how many times I would wake up from the frightening void I was in. Sometimes I would feel nothing, but other times were as if I forgot how to breath.

And there was a glitching noise whenever that happened. But, what does it mean, I kept bugging myself whenever I washed my face every morning. It was the same glitching noise from school as well.

Claire, clearly, was doing something illegal, I pondered, with the iron cutting? I'm sure she had no teacher's approval.

But how do I connect my nightmares with that?

And what's the light all about?

I could have sworn that she was cutting the iron using heat vision.

But no one would believe me.

No one believed me anyway.

Step after step, thought after thought, I glanced towards Marie and George, who by now were talking about a book that she found interesting yesterday. George asked what it was and Marie told him that it was a children's book. George began to laugh as if there was no tomorrow, and seeing that Marie was about to make some damage to his face, he got serious and then he asked what it was about, but started laughing again of the mention that it was a children's book about planets that she found outside a shop right at the side of Limassol's old Square of Heroes. After she smacked him once on his arm she explained where the book shop was exactly:

'...it's like, when you have the huge water fountain and the memoir of the heroes behind you, there is a narrow path that goes all the way up towards Navarinou Street.' As she saw that George was lost, she continued the explanation.

'So, from the square, you walk on the narrow road, and the bookshop is on your right. It's a small shop, but it has probably thousands of old books, encyclopaedias, old journals and many more.'

I left them be, and turned my head to my left. I was lost, trying to find a familiar sight so I would know exactly where I was, when finally I heard Marie again, talking intensely, which snapped me out of my delirium and my navigational issue.

'... and at first I was shocked to see a black book with golden lines and different shapes to be a children's book, but... Don't even dare laugh, spotty,' and now she turned towards me immediately, as if she knew that I was all ears on what she was saying, 'Lucas, when you said about the glitching noise you heard in school, and also ten minutes ago, I was sure that everything was not a coincidence.' She stopped.