It is scary when all is well in one moment, and the next feels like your world is falling apart, and your hands are too tied to do anything.
"What happened, Luna? Is everything alright? You dropped your meal. Why are you crying?" were just a few of the questions I heard from different members of my family. My sight felt blurred, like it was about to lose its function, as I found myself standing and staggering to my room without saying anything, much to the bewilderment of others.
"Am I okay? What's wrong with me? Why are these strange things happening to me?" I found myself questioning all at once, slapping myself gently to be certain this wasn't another nightmare.
"Breath in, Luna. Breath in. Just calm down. It's going to be okay," I reassured myself. Thinking of the next thing to do, I took a very deep breath, gathered some courage, and walked to the dining room.
I got to the dining room and found only Mom and Dad, looking worried.
"Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospi—"
"Where is Zion?" I cut my mom off.
"He went to see his friend off, who left as soon as you had an episode," my dad answered, staring at me deeply.
"What's wrong, Luna? What was that about?" he added curiously.
"Mom, Dad… can I please say something?" I asked.
"Sure, go on," my mom responded.
"I've been experiencing some strange things," I said.
"What do you mean?" my dad asked.
"I've been having some nightmares lately, and just today I had a trance—twice, actually. In the first, I saw all of us sitting, and you said you were going for a business trip before it happened," I explained.
"I thought it was a joke, but you said it—and in the second trance, it happened as soon as you mentioned the trip. Something really bad happened," I added, almost stammering under my parents' keen expressions.
"Dad, please… can you not just go?" I said, holding his hands tightly, tears streaming down my cheeks.
"Nothing is going to happen to your dad. Are you sure you're okay? Should we get you some med—"
"Mom, I'm not sick, and I know the things I say," I cut her off again. It wasn't my desire to do this, but I was desperate for someone to believe me. And just like the universe heard my prayers, my dad spoke up.
"Don't worry, princess. I will see what can be done," he assured me, giving me a sense of relief. For a moment, I felt happy that I had prevented something bad from happening. Maybe having trances sometimes isn't such a bad thing, I thought, as I carried on with the rest of my day.
**************************************************
I was in class, all my attention on the book I was holding, calmly going through its contents. Nothing else was on my mind—just the blasting music from my headphones. I barely noticed the loud class or students chattering, until I felt a gentle touch on my hand.
It was Alex, standing there with almost no expression on his face, which made me remove my headphones and close the pages I was reading.
"Hi," he said almost shyly. I flashed a smile.
"Alex, right?" I asked.
His face lit up, then became expressionless almost immediately.
"Yeah. I came to check how you were doing. You acted like something was going on over breakfast," he said.
"I'm fine, as you can see," I responded—though the words came a little ruder than intended.
"I'm glad to hear that," he replied, pausing for a moment before collecting the book I had been reading.
"Can I go through that real quick?" he asked as he picked it up.
"Biography of Vampires and Werewolves," he whispered the name of the book, quickly glancing through its pages.
"Propagandas, lies, and bullshit," he muttered under his breath.
"Sorry?" I questioned.
"This book is fiction, right?" he asked.
"No, it's a biography," I responded.
"More like a lie," he added.
"How do you know? Have you read the book before?" I questioned further.
"Yeah," he replied.
"When?" I interrogated.
"Now," he answered, taking a few steps closer while holding the book up.
"And this book right here is bullshit," he said, looking directly into my eyes, like he was trying to take over my mind. I could have sworn I saw a hint of red in his eyes.