BlackMoon Beginnings (2 page)

Grabbing the car keys off the counter, I rush
out the front door and am surrounded by the musty smell of the
rain. The downpour has relented to a soft drizzle, while various
shades of grays accumulate in the sky, swirling around one another
like a van Gogh painting. The gloomy clouds that had gathered and
drenched the earth are starting to drift away into nothingness. The
trees begin to sway as the wind picks up, rustling their leaves
together creating a whisper of noise throughout the town.

Thankful to be out of the strange weather, I
turn the car keys in the ignition. The car comes to life, a steady
thrum reverberating throughout the vehicle. Being a small town, the
only bookstore is the local BlackMoon Bookstore on Amber Avenue. It
will only take a few minutes to drive over there. Since it is a
small town though, I have to park out of the way and walk to the
store.

Pulling into a parking lot at the back of
Second Chances, the local thrift store, I get out of the car and
begin walking towards the bookstore located across the street. I
stop at the crosswalk to push the walk button…only there isn’t a
walk button. Since the weekend has begun, Stormfield is pretty
quiet. Most people would have gone into Brookville, the larger town
located a few miles away for their weekend festivities. Without
bothering to look before crossing, I take a step off of the curb
and into the road.

After a couple of steps, I am blinded by a
bright light and a loud noise echoes down the street to my right: a
car horn. Everything freezes around me. The wind picks up and blows
my hair across my face, momentarily blocking my vision. I know that
I am going to be hit. My heart is beating a mile a minute as if
trying to escape my chest. I’m sure that if anyone was near they
could hear its loud beat. My airways constrict, making it difficult
to breath. I try to move my feet, but they seem to be glued to the
ground, forbidding any movement. Fear overwhelms me as I see the
car getting closer.

During times like this, most people would say
that their life flashed before their eyes. I don’t know what kind
of situation those people went through, because the only coherent
thought running through my mind is c
rap, I’m going to be hit by
a car.

Suddenly, the sky darkens, lightning cracks
overhead, thunder booms directly above, and the intensity of the
wind increases. The car is less than a foot away from me. Since
moving is impossible, I close my eyes and wait for the pain—wait
for my inevitable death.

It never comes.

The car horns blares, nearly blowing out my
eardrums. At the last possible second, a large gust of wind blows
through the street, picking me up and depositing me on the other
side of the road. I put my arms out to try and stop the momentum,
but only manage to scratch my exposed skin.

My body collides with the curb, successfully
stopping the rolling. Turning onto my back, I try to catch my
breath because the wind was knocked out of me during the fall. I
can’t suppress the painful groan from escaping my lips as feeling
returns to my body. Black spots start to dot my vision. Moaning, I
attempt to roll over and sit up, but am overcome with dizziness. I
hear the sound of a bell, a door open, and then footsteps running
towards me. The car speeds past me—the driver yelling all sorts of
obscenities out the window.

“Oh my goodness, dear, are you alright? I saw
what happened, but couldn’t make it to you soon enough.” I look
towards the sound of the voice, but can’t concentrate on who is
speaking to me. The world is spinning all around me, creating
duplicates of everything. I feel the woman reach for my hand.
Wrapping my arm around her neck, her other arm wraps around my
waist and she pulls me up. Leaning almost all of my weight on her,
she walks me towards her store: the BlackMoon Bookstore.

“Colton, go and get me an icepack and some
Advil from the back,” she yells to someone once we step in the
doorway.

Muffled into the background, I hear a book
being dropped and the sound of footsteps receding. The woman guides
me towards a nearby chair. Overcome with a headache, I lean my head
forward and place it onto my knees; my long dark curly hair falling
and creating a curtain around my face, encasing me in my own world.
I take a deep breath, hoping that the pain will stop soon.

After a couple of minutes, the room slowly
stops spinning and I am finally able to lift my head and look
around. Large shelves of books, both old and new, clutter the small
shop. I can tell by looking around that certain sections have more
visitors than others—some shelves have more dust lining their
edges. The wallpaper is a deep shade of purple, fading with age,
with small golden stars dispersed evenly on its surface. The back
of the shop has large, leather-bound books behind a display case at
the register.

“Are you okay, honey? Where does it
hurt?”

Flinching at her loud tone, I start shaking
my head and reply, “Ugh, my head.” It comes out as nothing more
than a whisper. I can’t muster anything louder. Placing my head
into my hands, I close my eyes and block out my surroundings again.
How the heck did I get across the street? I should be dead right
now or at least on my way to the hospital.

“I couldn't find an icepack, but here's the
Advil. Is she hurt?” inquires a deep voice that I’m assuming
belongs to Colton.

Without moving from my current position I
answer, “I’m fine.” I don’t feel fine, but I don’t want any more
attention than was necessary.

“Well you don’t look fine,” he retorts.

“Colton, leave the girl alone. She was almost
hit by a car. Here dear, take this. It will help the headache.”

Lifting my head, I squint because of the
bright lights. I see her outstretched hand with two small pills in
it. Reaching out, I grab them and the bottle of water she offers
and swallow them.

When my eyes adjust, I finally get a look at
who is talking to me. The woman crouching in front of me looks to
be in her late forties or early fifties. She has tanned skin, as if
she spends a lot of time outdoors, and light blonde hair with small
streaks of gray. Her face is scrunched together with concern,
emphasizing her wrinkles. She is beautiful. Her aged appearance
gives off an aura of wisdom and for that, I immediately trust her.
My eyes don’t stay on her for long though, because I am drawn to
the man standing behind her, looking at me closely.

He looks like he walked straight out of photo
shoot for GQ. Looking to be above six feet tall, he stands almost a
whole foot above than me. His arms are crossed in front of his
chest emphasizing his muscular physique. He has dark, shaggy brown
hair that shines under the dulled light of the store. My hand
instantly itches to reach out and touch it—to push the long ends
out of his eyes. My eyes slowly travel down from his hair to his
eyes.

When our eyes connect, my stomach tightens.
There is something mesmerizing about his eyes. The color maybe? He
stares back at me with deep emerald eyes; the color of the leaves
in the fall, right before they begin to change colors. I swallow
audibly and try clear the fog in my mind. He is gorgeous and I
can’t stop staring at him. It takes everything in me not to let out
a girly sigh at the attractiveness of this man. Talk about
awkward…

“Ryanne?” he asks. “Ryanne Arden?”

His deep voice breaks my trance. Crap, even
his voice is hot. Why didn’t I notice that before? Blinking
rapidly, I look away. He looks familiar. I rack my brain trying to
recognize him. I must have a look of confusion on my face, because
the corner of his full mouth rises slightly as if I had said
something funny.

“How do you know my name?” I ask slowly
trying to keep my obvious embarrassment out of my voice.

“We go to the same school.” His
straightforward answer baffles me. I know that I would have
recognized him had I seen him at school. When I continue watching
him, he starts smiling at me—a full-blown smile that would cause
any grown woman to stop in her tracks and gawk. Averting my eyes, I
stare down at the patterned carpet. I can’t think straight with him
looking at me like that.

Fidgeting in my chair, the only response I
can come up with is, “Oh.” I’m not very attentive in school, but
I’d hope that I would have recognized this totally gorgeous guy if
I had seen him before. I can’t be that out of it all the time,
right?

Outside, the storm begins to pick up again.
Loud thunder sounds, shaking the windows of the old shop. Startled,
I jump and look out the window, watching the heavy rain flood the
street. The sudden movement and loud noise causes my headache to
worsen. I hear the woman talking, but I can’t tear my eyes from the
window. The weather has been very capricious lately.

Feeling someone tap my leg, I jerk my eyes
away from the window and looking at the woman crouching in front of
me. “Sorry, what?”

Slightly amused, she repeats, “Why didn’t you
move when you saw the car coming?”

“I tried, but I couldn’t. I felt like I was
frozen.”

Colton gives me a look that I can’t decipher.
“Then how did you end up…not…getting hit?”

With a sigh, I turn and look out the window
again. “I don’t know. One second I was looking at the car coming
towards me, thinking that I was about to die, and the next second I
was on the other side of the road.” I turn and look back at them,
debating on whether or not I want to tell them. “This is going to
sound crazy, but I think the wind pushed me.”

They both look at each other briefly and then
turn back towards me, “The wind?”

“Yeah, right before the car was going to hit
me there was a huge gust of wind. I felt like I had been picked up
and blown to the…” Judging by their facial expressions, they both
think I am going insane. “You know what? Never mind, forget I said
anything.”

“No, dear, we believe you.”

“You do?”

She reaches out and puts her hand on my knee.
“This town is full of unexplainable things.”

“Wh—”

While I try to respond, Colton throws the
woman an enigmatic expression. “Well, I have to be getting back to
work. I hope you feel better soon Ryanne.” Abruptly, he turns
around and walks away. My eyes follow him as he leaves the room and
disappears from my sight.

“I apologize for the rudeness of my nephew.
How is your head?”

I pause and think about it. I’m not in as
much pain anymore. “Actually, it feels much better, thank you. The
Advil really worked.”

“Indeed, the Advil. Well, if you are feeling
better, is there anything I can help you with?”

“No, I’m…Well, yes. I actually came here to
buy a book. Do you have
The Lion, The Witch, and The
Wardrobe
by C.S. Lewis? I’m supposed to read it for
school.”

“Ah, C.S. Lewis. Yes, I do. Follow me.”

I follow her back to the fantasy section,
where she steps onto a step stool to reach the books on the top
shelf. “Hmm, I know it is up here somewhere,” she mumbles to
herself.

Eye level to me was a thickly bound book:
Witchcraft 101: Guidebook to basic spells.
Its black cover
and cursive violet text, outlined in gold, captures my attention.
Taking it off the shelf, I turn it over and read the back
cover.

“Do people actually buy these books?”

Laughing, she replies, “You’d be surprised.
Will this be all?” She hands the book to me.

Reaching for it, I say, “Yes, thank you very
much for everything.”

“You’re very welcome. No need to thank me. I
hope you are feeling better. Now, go to the front and ask Colton to
check that out for you.”

I walk towards the front of the store and see
Colton, with his back to me, reaching towards the top shelf,
dusting it off. I just watch him. He barely has to stretch to reach
the top shelf. His shirt has risen slightly under his extended arm,
exposing a patch of tanned skin. Is there anything wrong with this
guy? I must have made a noise, for he turns around and catches me
staring. I jerk my eyes from him, but the damage is already done.
He raises his eyebrows and smirks at me. “Can I help you with
anything?”

My face turns a deep shade of red. I can’t
help it; I am a blusher. I place the book on the counter. “I need
to pay for this,” I reply while avoiding eye contact. I pick up a
pen and pretend to be interested in it.

At that moment, lightning lights up the sky
and thunder rumbles, causing me to jump and drop the pen I had in
my hands. Feeling my face turn a deeper shade of red, I bend over
and pick it up, putting it back where I found it. I can feel him
staring at me. Moving on, I pretend to be interested in the set of
bookmarks lining the front counter. Chuckling, he grabs my book and
rings it up.

I hand him the cash without looking at him. I
know that I’m already blushing insanely and if I look at him, it’ll
deepen.

“Do you need a bag for this?”

“Umm, nope. I can carry it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, and drive carefully. The
weather is pretty bad.”

Nodding, I turn around and walk out of the
store. This time, I look both ways before crossing the road. That
was enough excitement for one day.

I am surrounded by dozens of people, all
looking at me with menacing glares. Their weapons are drawn and
look ready to kill. I start backing up until I can move no more.
Pressing myself up against a tree, I look around hoping to find
something or someone to help me, but I come up empty. I am
completely surrounded yet totally alone.

A feeling of panic sinks in as the men start
swarming me. “Ryanne, run!” someone yells from my right. I turn to
see who is talking to me, but I can’t see anything but the
mysterious man’s profile. His body is outlined by the shadows. He
runs past me, sword out, into the group, hitting many men in the
process. I can’t move. I can’t take my eyes away from him.