Chapter 1: Winter Wishes - Part Two

~If you are reading this, then realize that you are reading the "Chapter One" to the old version of "Moment of Darkness." As of this moment, everything is being updated and fixed and the new plot lines are completely different. Thank you all for reading though, :) ~

(My apologies for not posting Friday, I had most of it finished, but I didn't get it quite all of the way done, so here you go :D)

      My blood-curdling scream erupted through my lungs like a volcano that wouldn't ever stop spouting even though I finally realized where I was; In my soft, comfortable bed with blankets wrapped around me like a cocoon. The whole ordeal had been so real that I was sure that now I was dreaming, and that the world was suddenly turned upside down. My stomach still tingled slightly where the first of the undead had reached their gnarled hands into it.

     Shivering, I twisted on my side to see that my alarm clock flashed 6:52 am. Dream or no dream, I had to get to school. I tried to rip the blankets off of me to start about the room, but that made them angry so they latched on, making me fall off of the bed and onto the floor with a loud THUD. A small trail of a thought snaked its way in my head, 'Owwww.' Prying the edges of it loose, I became free to frantically press this way and that throughout the room, desperate to get to the bus on time.

     Glancing at the clock as I ran a brush through my hair, yanking through all of the tight knots and mini rat's nests, I thought briefly of all the nightmare aspects of the dream, knowing full well that it would stick with me like a pimple you just can't seem to be rid of. Most dreams mean something right? So what could that dream, with all of its devastating horrors have anything to do with my life? Seeing white, and then sharp snippets of images, I panicked, feeling out of proportion with my body. Like a knife, I was stabbed with images of the way dimness hovered about the room, how the flames danced around when I'd opened the front door, how my sister had become so unthinkable unrealistic that it had mortified me, pressing me into a corner.

     Shivering and resisting the impulse to vomit, I stumbled down the stairs and, in a daze, swiped my bag up onto my shoulder and pressed out of the door. I met the bus coming down the lane, whirring unsteadily. Walking down the lane, I quivered, a bitter gust of air biting at my exposed skin. Nice way to start the day, I muttered to myself. Taking an uncertain step one at a time, I climbed the wrinkled black miniature staircase and maneuvered down the aisle like a stealthy ninja.

     Swinging myself into an empty seat, I placed my bag beside me and wrapped my arms around my frigid body, hoping to sustain some heat. I could feel my body withering as I breathed a white cloud of vapor that rose aways, then vanished. I turned into the window blankly, looking out at the rolling hills, blanketed with a fine carpet of winter wishes. Wishes born to be squashed between someone's toes, rolled down a hill with a river of oil, and then lit on fire.
     That last thought brought me back to my dream, and my experience with being eaten-to-death was reborn. Shivering once more, I closed my eyes, hoping to dislodge the images from my head. Instead, that only heightened the clarity of them. About to bang my head into the metal wall of the bus, a hand reached around and tapped my arm. Startled, I swished my head about, finding myself locked into the eyes of Silas McFee, my secret crush and one of my best friends. Funny how that works out.      
     “Savannah Faber, what are you doing on a morning like this with no coat?” He asked me jokingly. I painted a small smile on my face, but on the inside, I was dieing. He noticed.

     “My alarm clock didn't go off like it was supposed to, so I didn't think about it until the bus came...” I said, sounding like a child who's been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

     “I've got an extra jacket in my bag if you want it,” he offered.

     “Lucky me then,” I smiled gratefully as he twisted back around the seat, digging through his bag until he pulled out a red sweatshirt. Still a little cold for the weather, but anything was better than nothing. He tossed it to me and I snatched it up, pulling it over my head which in turn messed up my brown hair again.

     “A little big, but it'll do,” I muttered to myself. I thanked Silas and he beamed back at me, poking me in the side and scolding me about it lightly, telling me not to do it again. He swung back into his own seat for a couple of seconds, and then, when the bus driver wasn't looking, swooped into my seat. He sat there and talked to me the entire bus ride there, and I couldn't help but be grateful.