BlackMoon Beginnings (4 page)

With effort, I ask, “Why won’t you answer any
of my questions?”

His piercing gray gaze locks on mine. I can
tell he’s debating with himself. The angry expression on his face
softens and he sighs in defeat, finally choosing to answer me.

“Because I can’t. You are not supposed to be
here. This isn’t your world.” He tries to step around me, but I
follow his step to block his move.

“And what world would this be? Narnia?” I
snap sarcastically.

As he opens his mouth to reply, the sound of
a twig snapping causes us both to jump and turn towards the sound.
There is nothing behind me, just darkness. The small distraction
allows him to move past me and continue walking.

“Can you at least tell me your name?” I ask
and begin to follow him again.

Without stopping, he says, “Liam.”

The sound of another twig snapping causes
Liam to slow his pace, but not stop. I keep glancing behind me,
searching for the source of the sound. I don’t know what sorts of
creatures are found in this “world,” but I know that I don’t really
want to find out. The sound of footsteps begins to resonate through
the darkness. The forest seems to get darker and the wind begins to
pick up again.

Stopping, he turns and looks at me. “You have
to remain calm. There is nothing out there.”

“How do you expect me to remain calm when you
won’t tell me anything! One second, I was in my room reading a book
and the next second I am here. I’m sorry if I’m a little confused.
And how do you know that? How do you know that there isn’t
something out there?” I point behind me. “I think something is
following us. I keep hearing footsteps.”

I start rambling when I’m freaked out. For
some reason, I think that talking will make a solution magically
appear.

It never does.

“It’s your imagination. You are scared and
the forest recognizes that. I already told you this.” Liam says and
takes a step forward, but stops and looks up. The tree branches on
the tree to my left, beside him, begin to move as if someone or
something is moving throughout them. He looks at me as if
questioning my emotions. I shake my head at him. I am not
responsible for that. A dark figure jumps from the tree and
crouches on the ground before straightening out.

Standing tall, the figure would have been
over seven feet, but it is hunched over. Surrounding its body is a
thick black cloak with fraying edges and rips along the seams. A
large mouth with huge jagged teeth dominates its face. Dark liquid
seeps from the corners of its mouth, piling on the ground, while
its piercing red eyes stare ahead at us. The beast appears to be
floating an inch above the ground. An orb of gray, with swirls of
black and red surrounds the being.

Holy crap, beastly dementors are going to
kill me.

Liam reaches out and grabs my arm and pushes
me behind him, shielding me with his body. Cowering behind him, I
watch as the mysterious figure opens its mouth and lets out a deep,
earsplitting growl. I double over in pain and put my hand up to my
ears, trying to block out the sound.

“Don’t move.” Liam pulls a long knife out of
his belt and runs towards the beast. The knife seems to have a glow
around it. The beast lets out an even louder cry as Liam jumps on
its back and stabs it in the side. Sticky green liquid oozes out of
the wound and cascades down its body. When the liquid hits the
ground, it begins to smoke and dissolve. With the swing of its arm,
the beast knocks Liam to the ground and begins to walk towards
me.

Shoot.

I break out of my fear-induced state. Scared,
I begin to take steps backward. I don’t know what to do or where to
go. The wind begins to pick up again. My hair flies across my face,
obstructing my vision. Pushing my hair back, I scream when I see
how close to me the beast is. Standing less than three feet in
front of me, it is staring at me with its beady eyes. I don’t have
any sort of weapon to defend myself with. I can smell its putrid
breath as it moves towards me. It abruptly stops and lets out a
deafening wail. A bright piercing light appears behind it and a
long knife blade pokes through the middle its chest. Its short ugly
arms reach towards the knife, trying to pull it out. Letting out
one last scream, it begins to disappear right before my eyes.

Behind where the beast stood seconds before,
Liam falls to the ground, breathing heavily. “I hate those things.
They don’t usually die that easily. We have to get out of the
forest.”

I just stare at him, unable to speak or move.
He begins to walk away, but stops when he notices I still haven’t
moved.

“W-w-what was that?” I yell, demanding that
he finally give me an answer.

“A gorgoth. I’m not going to go into too many
details. They are very dangerous creatures. They can suck your life
essence out of you. It’s a painful way to die.” I feel like I was
thrown in a J.K Rowling book. When I don’t move, Liam continues,
“Now, I repeat, we need to get out of the forest. There are other
dangerous things in here.”

He grabs the crook of my elbow and drags me
forward. I stumble, but try to keep up. He is walking too fast for
me. The wind begins to pick up again, and he looks at me
questioningly, but doesn’t say anything. With each of my stumbles,
I can see the corner of his mouth rise a little. Is he trying not
to laugh at me?

When I am finally able to catch my footing
and keep up with Liam, he lets go of my arm. “How much longer?” I
ask. I don’t want to be whiny, but goodness gracious, we’ve been
walking forever.

“You’re not very patient, are you?” He asks
me as he pushes a large tree branch to the side.

“You’re not very patient, are you?” I mimic
as I walk past him. I hear Liam’s deep laugh behind me. I really
want to be angry at him, but the laugh makes me smile. I keep my
back to him, so he can’t see my reaction though. Walking out of the
dark forest and into the bright sunlight, hurts my eyes. The sudden
change forces me to close my eyes and wait as they adjust.

Exhausted, I turn towards him and say, “Can
you please tell me where I am?”

“Where is not important. The question is why.
Why are you here?”

“How in the world would I know that? I
already told you. One second, I’m in my room reading a book and the
next, I’m here. I don’t understand what is going on and I’m really
confused.” I place my hands on my hips and glare up at him. He
tries to suppress another smirk as I continue to stare at him.

“Most people don’t know that they’ve come
here; they experience it in a dream. You’re different, though. You
are fully awake.” He stops looking at me and focuses on something
in the distance, apparently lost in his thoughts.

“Then, why are you here?”

He glances at me out of corner of his eye,
but turns away and stares straight ahead. “That’s not important,”
he repeats. I am getting really tired of that line. “The important
thing is that I have to help you get back.”

“What if I don’t want to go back?”

“You have to. This isn’t where you
belong.”

“You don’t understand. You don’t know what it
is like. I don’t want to go back home. My life is boring. I have no
family. I have no friends. I have nothing. At least this place is
exciting.” My mouth speaks the words, but my mind is telling me
otherwise. I don’t like this place. It freaks me out, but there is
a part of me that doesn’t want to leave yet.

His face transforms. Instead of a hard
calculating look, a look of pity crosses his features. Pity is one
expression I’m completely tired of. I’ve seen too much of it
lately. As he opens his mouth to respond, the sky begins to darken
again. The clearing transforms from a peaceful and serene spot, to
something out of a horror movie. For the hundredth time today, the
wind increases its speed as dark gray clouds loom overhead and the
familiar sound of thunder rolls through the sky. Liam looks up and
his body tenses, as if anticipating an impending threat.
Instinctually, I move closer to him, gripping onto his arm for
support.

A large winged beast descends from behind the
clouds, heading for where we are standing. Its dark and scaled body
blends with the sky. The length of its tail is covered with sharp,
blade like spikes. It has curved red horns and deep purple spots on
its back while two large pointed incisors poke out of the mouth.
Huge round eyes peer at us, daring us to make a move. Liam stands
up and hands me the knife he used against the Gorgoth earlier and
takes out another weapon. It looks like a long dagger. Liam starts
speaking in a language I don’t recognize and the blade begins to
glow. Before my eyes, it begins to transform into a long and sharp,
pointed sword.

Noticing my shocked look, he shrugs his
shoulders and says, “It comes in handy.” He begins to turn in
circles assessing our surroundings. The beast lands on the ground
and stares at both Liam and me, only pausing for a second, before
moving towards us. Liam takes a step forward and moves in front of
me, pushing me behind him like he did earlier in the forest.

He takes off towards the beast with his blade
pointing forward. Knowing what he is going to do, the beast turns
around, attempting to hit him with his tale. He ducks at the last
second, avoiding the bladed appendage. The beast turns back toward
Liam when he realizes he wasn’t hit. This time, his tail connects
with Liam’s torso sending him flying towards the nearest tree.

With effort, Liam gets to his feet and
silently walks towards the beast as it steps closer to me. I stare
at it as it closes the distance between us. I attempt to back up,
but I can’t. Why does this always happen to me in life or death
situations?

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Liam bring
his weapon over his head and thrust it into the beast’s back. About
a foot away from me, the beast howls in pain. Saliva spews out of
its mouth, soaking my clothes with its putrid spit. It quickly
turns around and gives its attention back to Liam. He and the beast
circle each other waiting for the other to make a move. It is
bleeding profusely, but doesn’t appear affected by it. Liam, on the
other hand, appears sluggish and quickly tiring.

The beast lunges forward, hitting Liam in an
attempt to knock him backwards. He momentarily loses his balance,
but catches his footing. He swings his sword over his head and
thrusts it towards the beast’s chest, but misses him as it moves
backwards. With a scream, it stops moving and begins to flap its
wings with such force that it knocks the sword out of Liam’s hand.
The wind from the wings of the beast combined with my fear becomes
so strong that it causes Liam to fall to the ground. Already on the
ground, I stare in shock, not knowing what to do to help.

As it begins to move towards weaponless Liam,
I know that I have to do something. I close my eyes and take a deep
breath, trying to calm myself down. The wind begins to die down. I
can’t let Liam die because I’m too scared to do anything. Opening
my eyes, I stand up and take off running towards the tree and grab
Liam’s sword. I turn and move towards the beast with the sword
pointed ahead. For Narnia, I guess.

The beast has his attention focused on Liam
lying on the ground, so it doesn’t notice me coming towards it. I
reach the beast and jump on its back plunging the knife into its
thick and scaly skin, causing it to screech out in pain and fall to
the ground. I look at Liam and see him smiling at me. It is a good
look for him. I watch as his features quickly transform from a
smile into a grimace of shock.

“No, Ryanne. Watch out!” Liam screams as an
immense pain shoots through my abdomen. My eyes widen and mouth
opens as I try to grasp for breath. The beast pulls his spiked tale
out of my back as it falls to the ground dead. I land beside it and
try to remain calm as blood begins to seep from the wound onto the
grass. Panicking will not help anything. My body becomes cold and
my vision starts to blur. The colors around me collide into one
another, creating a swirling vortex of color masses. Liam jumps up
and runs towards me. When he gets to me, my eyes are already
closing. He starts yelling something at me, but I can’t hear
anything and am quickly losing consciousness.

I open my eyes and look around. I am back in
my bedroom, lying on my bed. The book is lying open on my stomach.
What? What just happened? How did I get back?

Rubbing my eyes, I look around my room,
looking for anything out of the ordinary. A sharp pain shoots
through my abdomen as I sit up. The rain outside starts beating
against the glass window; the loud sound echoing through the empty
house. It is a slow steady rain, as if Mother Earth was crying—sad
about a sudden change. Tearing my gaze from the window, I yelp as I
glance at my pillow. For lying on my pillow is the flame shaped
pendent that Liam had been wearing.

Ever since that dream, I’ve worn Liam’s
pendant around my neck. For some reason, I believe that it is going
to protect me like Liam did. Protect me from what though? I’m not
really sure. I still don’t understand what actually happened while
I was…there, but I’m taking the pendent as a sign.

I finished reading the book and spent the
rest of the weekend studying like I used to before mom passed away.
I could have been at the top of my class, but I stopped caring. Mom
loved that I was doing so well in school. When she died, I no
longer felt the need to try anymore. A part of me left when she did
and I still haven’t gotten it back.

Beep. Beep. Beep.
I roll over and turn
my alarm off. I swear I just laid down to sleep; it can’t be time
to get ready for school already. I slowly get out of bed and walk
across the hall to the bathroom. I don’t hear Jane, so she probably
already left for work this morning.