//Paranormal Paradox\\

Chapter 20

Weilan POV:

The full moon is just hours away. We've all just had dinner, and dusk is starting it descend on us. I can see the shadows start to spread across Rita's balcony, and every time I glance outside the sky seems to get a little darker of a blue. Rita and Veridia are talking on the couch, I'm not sure about what but I've heard them laughing every few minutes. Rita slept through most of the day, but Veridia woke her up insisting she needed to eat. Rita still has a fever, but insists she's feeling much better and needs to get ready for tonight.

Veridia has had the pod swim away again. She knew better than to try to trust us to watch the little mermaids, I think by now she knows we can't resist helping. She said they're far enough away they'll be safe, but in close proximity. I can tell she's scared about tonight, she doesn't like the fact Rita is doing this anymore than the rest of us.

As it started to get darker Veridia insisted we should go down to the grotto, as we had no idea if this dragon was capable of putting Rita under the moon spell. That would be detrimental to our plans for the night. Mimmi and Ondina followed Rita and Veridia down the stairs, but I walked out onto the porch of the house.

It was definitely dusk, the sun was beginning to disappear behind the ocean waves that were just out of reach of Rita's house. The sky was now a light pink and orange shade, patches of dark blue beginning to fill in the gaps. I sighed deeply and turned to walk towards the grotto, but went downstairs after hearing a knock.

I was confused at first, but Zac walked in. I knew he would went to help. We walked up the stairs and back past the balcony. Zac told me about how hard it had been for him to get Evie not to come with him, and I laughed to myself. Evie had always been so determined.

We walked into the grotto, to see Mimmi and Ondina whispering to each other. Veridia and Rita were watching them with a smile. The dragon bracelet sat on one of Rita's tables, looking dark and menacing. Its reddened eyes were glistening like rubies, the golden body sparkling under the dull lit light of the grotto. "Zac's here." I said, walking down the stairs and setting next to Mimmi. Veridia looked a bit annoyed, but she would have to get over her dislike for him eventually. I still think she is unconvinced he is a good person, simply because he's a merman. A bit stupid I suppose.

Zac awkwardly sat next to me, sharing a smile with me. "Is it dark out?" Veridia asked. I nodded, "suns setting." I ran my fingers through my hair, but they kept getting caught. The long black strands were normally combed and tamed, but today it was nodded and ratty. I must have forgotten to brush it this morning. Then again, today has all been a blur.

"So...It ends tonight, right?" Zac questioned, a pleading desperation in his deep brown eyes. "no...not exactly. We don't really know. I'm not even sure if the bracelet will work on the dragon. I mean it was immune to a moon ring, I don't  think there's ever been a creature like that." Rita murmured, twisting the moon ring on her finger. I noticed she hadn't taken it off since the first encounter with the dragon.

We sat in silence, drifting to small talk, then silence, back to small talk. We were all feeling much more anxious as the time went on. Minutes felt like hours and seconds all at once. Zac had a google page with the time the moon would rise up on his phone. According to it we had less than an hour. 42 minutes to be exact. But those pages were always a bit off, Mako could sometimes be affected by the full moon as soon as it appeared in the sky.

Some more time passed. Thirty minutes, then twenty. I was longing for the day where we could have a peaceful full moon, but hopefully we could after tonight. "Weilan, could you go check how high the moon is? Just to be sure, I think we should get going." Veridia said, her gaze drifting to Rita. Rita stood up and began to walk towards the exit of the grotto.

Veridia stood and followed her.  "Hey, Rita, I don't think you should check. It could be-" Rita sent Veridia flying over the staircase and into the back wall of the grotto with a flick of her hand. Mimmi let out a scream, and Veridia stuggled to prop herself up on her elbows. Confusion and terror were heavy in the air, and Rita glanced back at Veridia with a slight smirk.

Her eyes were the same glowing blue as the dragons.