The Troubles from Monsters and Men (The Secret of Moonacre Fanfiction)

The Chase and Escape

A puff of frosty air escaped from Maria as she shivered and curled into a ball. Her hand sleepily reached around her, looking to pull her blankets over her head, but she couldn't feel them. Maria groaned and forced herself up, groggily rubbing her eyes. She brushed away her curls from her face and scowled. Her blankets were on the floor, a few feet away from her bed. Maria cocked her head. 'Strange....' She muttered to herself. On occasion, her restless dreams did cause her to push her blankets off her, but she had never before thrown them. Across from her, Lizzy and Cat were snuggled together on Lizzy's bed. Maria smiled. Cat must've been cold too.

Maria braced herself, taking a large breath of courage, and she stepped down from her bed. She gasped and curled her toes, trying to reduce her foot's contact with the cold wooden floor. Maria then skipped across and snatched her blankets. She turned to retrace her steps but froze.

Staring at her from her window was a pair of red-slitted eyes, embodied by a black smoky shadow. The eyes sneered, and she felt the warmth of her pearls sucked right out of them. They became cold to the touch and burnt her skin.

Maria backed away and hit against a soft feathered body. Althea was right behind her. She yelped and jumped back. Her talons dripped with fresh blood and she clicked her beak, bringing it down to Maria's level. Althea readied her hand to lash through Maria, but before she could strike, she woke up.

Maria sat up on her bed panting. She was back in her cold dark dormitory. Althea was nowhere in sight, but her blankets were on the floor, as they had been in her dream. The window by her bed was wide open too, letting in the icy November air.

Maria jumped out of bed and hurried to the sisters. "Lizzy! Cat! Wake up!"

The girls stirred. Cat sat up and stared at Maria with tired eyes. "What's wrong?" She croaked.

"I dreamt Althea was right here! When I woke up, the window was wide open. Look!"

Lizzy yawned and propped herself on an arm, warily eyeing the open window. "Perhaps we didn't close it last night?"

"Impossible! I know I closed it. It's been too cold to leave it open!"

"Maybe it was a nightmare?" Cat suggested.

Maria shook her head, "I don't know. But I have a horrible feeling, as though we're being watched." She finished recounting the rest of her dream to the girls, all the while shivering from the cold.

Lizzy frowned. She slipped out of bed to retrieve Maria's blankets and tossed them over to the bed. Then she shut the window. She made sure to bolt it and threw the curtains over it. Lizzy walked back to her bed, crawled in, scooted closer to Cat, and raised her blankets, beckoning Maria join them.

Maria jumped in without a second thought.

"Let's go back to sleep, there's no point in worrying now. Get some rest and we'll talk about it in the morning, you have a busy day ahead," Lizzy urged with a tired yawn.

The following morning, Lizzy woke up wrapped tightly in the arms of both Cat and Maria on either side. She smiled. It had been a very cold night indeed. She slid out of her friends' warmth and shivered as she got out of bed. She quickly put on her robe and stretched into the air. She turned on the iron furnace at the center of the room and frowned. The window by Maria's bed was open and the curtains were shoved to the side.

Chills crawled down her spine as she remembered last night's events. Maria's blankets were still on her bed, but she was certain she had closed the window as well.

Lizzy peered out the window, hoping to spot signs of an intruder, but the windowsill and its surroundings were undisturbed. All she saw were the school grounds and foggy city streets below. She scowled and shut the window a little too roughly before making her way to her desk. There she pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and ink, working quickly to write down all that she remembered. Then she took out another sheet to write Henry a letter. So focused was she on her writing, that she failed to notice Cat waking up.