Blue Moon

Chapter 31

Alona woke to the orange glow of the streetlight outside. She was laying in her bed. She sat up, wondering why Arlo hadn't woke her up for training already, for two weeks he had woken up her every morning like clockwork; something had to be off.

She tossed the blankets off and walked across the hall to his room. She knocked on his door, it swung open at her touch.

Arlo's bed was unmade, but he wasn't in it.

"Arlo?" She asked. She scanned the darkened room; his bathroom door was open, but he wasn't inside the bathroom.

She turned around to find a figure staring at her from the other end of the hallway. The darkness cloaked their face.

"Arlo?" She asked again, her voice shaky.

They took a step towards her. She saw something drip off of their chin. It splattered across the carpet.

Her hands began to shake, "Arlo?"

They took another step towards her. Black drops fell from their mouth to the floor. Their arm moved into the light.

Her heart dropped. It was Arlo; his blue tattoos shimmered in the orange glow from the street lamp outside.

He stepped forward again, his eyes were two black holes, and his mouth oozed black spit.

She stepped back. This couldn't really be him. He was here to protect her.

"Please. Arlo." He stepped forward, not a sound came from his mouth, his feet skidded across the ground, making a scraping noise. He let out a zombie-like groan.

Tears rolled down Alona's face. She backed away from him and into his room. She tripped backward and fell onto his bed.

Arlo moved into the room. He kept stumbling towards her. She scooted back up the bed, her back pushed against the headboard. He crawled up the bed towards her.

Black fell from his mouth and dripped onto the bed. He opened his mouth and leaned towards her neck. A drop of liquid black splashed against the side of her neck. He grabbed her arm and forced her to stay put. She was no match for his strength. She closed her eyes, accepting her fate.

----

Arlo ran into Alona's room. She was thrashing and screaming. She was crying and punching.

Greg stepped through the door.

"What's going on?" He whispered. He had been living with them for two weeks now and Alona had never acted this way before.

"She has nightmares." Arlo responded, sitting on the edge of Alona's bed.

He managed to grab her wrists flailing through the air. He shook her until she woke up.

"Alona. Alona!"

She finally woke up. She stared at Arlo for a moment then pushed him away, tears streamed down her face.

"Alona!" He was surprised at her.

She wiped her face. She laid back against the headboard. "Sorry. Sorry." She breathed. "I had a nightmare." She was still crying. Her body was trembling. "I'm fine." Her breathing was rapid and Arlo could see that she was not fine.

"Are you alright?" Greg asked from the door. He had never seen someone act so strange in their sleep.

She looked up at Greg, "I'm fine." She sniffed. Greg nodded and left them alone. He hoped Arlo knew how to help her.

"What happened?" He asked, reaching for her hand.

She told him her dream. He stared at her unable to find anything to say.