Under the Moonlight: Chapter 2

Lora opened her eyes and bolted upright in her bed. Her body was shaking and covered in sweat. She began taking deep breaths to calm her. Like she feared, it had happened again

She couldn’t understand it. She had been having the same dream several nights on end, each time more vivid and clear than the last. Everything she saw occurred from the young woman’s point of view and she could even feel the woman’s emotions. This time she had even been able to feel the woman’s pain. The thought of it sent chills down her spine.

She glanced over at the clock. It read 2:15 a.m.; the same time she had awoken from her nightmare last time.

Finally relaxed, she laid down on her back and stared up at her slick white ceiling.

There were so many things she wanted to know. Why did she keep having the same dream, why did she always wake from it at the same time, and more importantly, who was the young man? When she had first had the dream two months ago, she couldn’t see the young man’s face at all, but each time she had the dream, the young man’s face always grew clearer. This time was able to see his face perfectly. What was weird though was the fact the even from the first dream, she had always been able to see the young man’s bright yellow eyes. Even now, when she could see his entire face, it was his eyes that drew her attention. They always seemed to give her a warm yet forbidding look. They gave the young man himself a look of other-worldliness.

She rolled over on her side; grabbing her blanket and pulling it tightly around her. After glancing at the clock once more, she closed her eyes dreading the school day ahead of her. Slowly, she drifted back off to sleep with images from her dream still vivid in her mind.

Throwing frequent glances at the clock, Lora raced frantically about her room grabbing any textbook she found in sight. She couldn’t believe she had overslept again, but then again, she could. Any time she had that particular nightmare she had last night, she always overslept without fail. She would sleep through the alarm no matter how loud it was. To make things even worse, she always felt drained and exhausted the next day.

The clock now reading 7:40 a.m., she abandoned her search for her pre-calculus book. She grabbed her purse off her desk and lapped it lazily onto her shoulder. Turning toward her dresser, she took a last look at her appearance.

Lora’s sleek, straight, ash brown hair hung midway down her back. She had a medium colored skin tone-not ivory but not tan. Her facial structure and build was practically that of a model. She also had a seemingly perfect complexion which was complemented by her green eyes. Despite her appearance though, Lora had never been what you would call popular. She always seemed to go Plain Jane with anything she wore and couldn’t help but detest the so-called preps at school.

Lora grabbed her keys off the dresser as she left the room holding what books she had found. When she reached the stairs, she began to make a quiet downward decent in a desperate attempt to avoid waking her mother. When she reached the bottom, she tiptoed across the hardwood floor to the front door. Just as she placed her hand lightly on the handle, she heard a sound coming from her right.

“Running late again are we?”

Lora grimaced as she heard the voice. She turned to see her mother, Karen, standing ten feet from her in a pink housecoat holding a cup of coffee. She looked as though she had slept outside; her blond hair going in every direction. Lora couldn’t help but think that this was not going to go very well.

“Mom” Lora replied gently. “I didn’t know you were up. How are you? Has dad already left for work?”

“Don’t give me any of your sweet talk. What’s your excuse this time?"

Lora was right, it wasn't going well at all. Her mom gave her a stern look as if trying to pry the answer out of her.

“My alarm clock didn’t go off,” Lora lied. She knew if she told her mom that she had slept through it because of a nightmare, she would probably laugh. She’d probably also say that was the stupidest excuse she had ever heard. Which, in truth, did sound pretty stupid.

Her mom gave a small annoyed laugh and smiled sarcastically at her.

“Yeah. Right. Go on to school but you have to come straight home as a punishment. No going out. If you wake up late again then you can bet on having you car taken away. Is that clear?”

Lora gave her a slight nod and took off out the door.

“Just great. I haven’t been up even thirty minutes and I’m already grounded. This is a good start”, Lora mumbled.

She went straight to her car, a 2004 ford mustang, and got in. She had wasted close to five minutes over her mother’s confrontation and she still had to pick up Kelly. She didn’t know why her mom had to nitpick at everything she did. She made straight A’s, was captain of the academic team, and never done anything to get herself into major trouble. Wasn’t that good enough.

Annoyed, she threw her books into the back seat along with her purse and started the car. As she backed out of the driveway, she kept thinking about how unreasonable her mother was being.

With her mind completely off of what she was doing, she practically jumped out of her seat as a loud bang was heard from behind the car. Panic stricken, she soon realized what had happened. She had hit the mailbox.

Worried sick that her mom was going to come out of the house on a rampage, she quickly pulled up off of it. She then pulled out onto the street and drove down the road fearful of taking a glance back and possibly seeing her mom chasing after her in her housecoat.

As she turned down the street Kelly lived on, she could see her standing on the sidewalk in front of her house. Lora pulled the car up in front of her and Kelly hopped in without a seconds notice with a look similar to her own. She knew Kelly was a little annoyed at her for being late. She couldn’t blame her, she be mad at herself too for being late all the time. Lora sighed as she put the car in drive started off down the road.

Kelly turned to look at Lora with a sarcastic smile. “Late again huh?”

Lora groaned “Don’t say that. You sound like my mother.”

With this, Kelly seemed to lighten up some. “Come on, I’m just joking. But seriously, why do you keep running late?”

Lora sighed. “I just keep oversleeping. That’s all.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, just making sure. I mean, you seem kinda tired for someone who oversleeps so much.”

Lora gave a small laugh, “You have no idea.”

“Maybe I need to tell Karen to give you a bedtime again. That way, we may actually be able to make it to school on time for a change”

Lora laughed. “Real funny Kelly.”

Kelly grinned widely. “Yep, I thought so too.”

Lora smiled. She was happy that she had a friend like Kelly who really did care about her and knew just how to make her laugh. Kelly had moved to Lora’s home town when they had both been in fourth grade. They had been put into the same class and seemed to strike up a friendship immediately. Kelly, like Lora, also had the facial structure and build of a model. She had long, bright blond hair and a pale skin tone which seemed to bring out her light blue eyes.

“So…are you coming to the party tonight?

Lora’s eyes grew wide? “Wait. The party is tonight? I could have sworn it was next Friday night.”

“No, it’s tonight. Did you forget?”

“Yea. I doubt ill be able to go anyways. Mom is kinda mad at me and as a punishment; she’s making me come home early and I’m not allowed to leave once I get there.”

“But you have to go. It will be our first party as new seniors. I mean, what’s the point of being a senior and never having any fun with it. You can’t miss it. The whole school will be there.”

Lora sighed, “I know but…”

“But nothing.” Kelly cut in. “You’ll be eighteen in two weeks which means you’re practically an adult. As an adult, do what you want for a change.”

“Yea but how am I supposed to go with mom’s whole punishment deal.”

Kelly’s face developed a puzzled look, but it didn’t take her long to blurt out a reply. “Do what she says.”

Lora grew confused at this. How was she supposed to go to the party if she had to listen to her mom and come straight home? At this time, Kelly gave Lora a quirky little grin which told her that her friend was up to no good.

Lora glanced seriously at Kelly, “You’re up to something. What are you planning?”

“Look, the party doesn’t start till ten right?”

“Right.”

“Well everything is dark outside by nine thirty this time of year. All you have to do is come home like your mom said but as soon as it gets dark, sneak out.

Lora glanced at her friend in surprise. “Sneak out! Kelly are you serious? I mean, do you know how much trouble this could get me into?”

“Well it’s true that you could get into a little bit of trouble but what’s life without taking some risks? Come on. Ill even hide in the bushes and wait for you outside.”

“I don’t know. I mean, It won’t kill me if I don’t go.”

Kelly was determined to make Lora go to the party. She gave Lora a pleading look and stared at her with innocent eyes. “Please. You don’t want me to have to go by myself do you? Plus, Brent Johnson will be there”

Lora knew Kelly was right and every word she said made her want to go more. There was no way she could miss this party without regretting it. But there was something else. Something that made her feel if she had to go for another reason other than the fact that the party was going to be one of the highlights of her senior year. Now that she thought of it, it was probably the fact that Brent was going. God knows how much she wanted to impress him.

“Fine i'll do it. But if I get caught, you’re going down with me.”

Kelly smiled and gave a slight giggle.. “Don’t worry, you won’t. I have my ways”

Lora laughed, “I bet you do.”

Satisfied, Kelly leaned back against the seat and began playing with her seat belt. “Now that I know you’re going, I can’t wait till tonight. Now we just have to survive the school day. Which reminds me, I need to borrow your notes for Pre-Cal." Kelly then paused for a minute and let out a small laugh. “By the way, what’s with the dent on the back of your car?”