"Well," Serena said when they reached her house. "This is my stop. Thank you for walking me home."
"Be still my heart," Sebastian declared, his hand clutching dramatically at his chest. "Did Serena Whitehall just thank me?"
"Don't get used to it," she replied, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Is that a smile?" Sebastian asked, leaning in close. "I think it is!"
"Alright, enough," Serena said in exasperation."Go home, Sebastian, wherever that happens to be. I know for a fact that it is not here."
"I shall do as you ask, but on one condition," Sebastian stated.
What now? Serena thought. "What?"
"Let me take you somewhere tomorrow."
"What? No," Serena replied feeling a tangled ball of panic forming in her stomach. This was the exact reason why she had been avoiding him. A low rumble of thunder rolled across the sky overhead. Serena looked up to see the gray clouds from earlier had grown almost black. They were in for one hell of a storm.
"Then I'm staying here," he said.
"It's going to rain," Serena protested. As though on queue fat drops began to sprinkle down from over head. "You'll get drenched."
"It's only water, Serena," Sebastian protested with a shrug. "Besides, it might be refreshing."
Refreshing was't the word Serena would have used to describe the torrential downpour lurking on the horizon.
"Then again, I could catch a cold, and get deathly ill... "Sebastian said thoughtfully. The wind was beginning to pick up causing his dark hair to flutter around his head. Serena could feel the faint hum of electricity in the air. It wouldn't be long now before that storm unleashed its fury. "It'd be all your fault..."
"Fine!" Serena snapped irritably.
"Fine what?"
"I'll go," she grumbled.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Sebastian said, leaning in closer. "Could you say that again?"
"Tomorrow I will go with you to ... wherever," Serena repeated. A particularly strong breeze caused the leaves littered across the ground to dance through the air before settling somewhere further down the street. "Now will you please go home before it starts really raining?"
"I will pick you up here at nine," Sebastian said as he started walking backwards down the sidewalk.
"In the morning?" she called out in distress. It was Saturday, she never got up that early on a Saturday. What kind of cruel torture was this? It as inhumane.
"If you aren't out here, I will come in there and get you!" He threatened. With that he turned and began to jog towards the end of the street.
"Sebastian, wait! Come on! Nine?" Serena shouted after him. He didn't stop.
It better be worth it, Sebastian Dewitt, or you're dead. She thought irritably as she made her way to the front door. She reached the front steps of the porch just as the sky opened up and rain came crashing down in thick sheets. Serena looked up as lightning danced through the clouds, lighting in shades of red and violet from within. As the light faded, Serena swore she saw a face within the billowing thunderheads.
Feeling her heart skip a beat, Serena waited for another flash of lightning and she was not disappointed, nor did she have to wait long. Once again the sky lit up only this time there was no face, just angry clouds glaring down at her.
Your eyes are just playing tricks on you, Serena.
She tried to convince herself of that as she let herself into the house, but she couldn't shake the sudden uneasy feeling that had come over her -- the feeling that someone was watching her.
That night, Serena dreamed.
She found herself running through the streets of a long abandoned city. The sky overhead was stained red as blood, and a full, broken moon hung low on the horizon. As Serena ran the rotting ground beneath her feet began to crack and split, gnarled hands reaching up to grasp at her ankles and legs, desperate to hinder her. Was she running from something, or towards something? Serena couldn't tell.
Maybe it was both.
Maybe it was neither.
The next thing she knew the ground fell away completely and she was falling, plummeting into the darkness like a stone tossed over the edge of a pit. Air whistled passed her as she tumbled towards nothing. Just when she felt she would fall forever, the darkness receded and she found herself floating amidst the twinkling light of a million stars.
In the distance she could make out a fog, thick and black, spiraling towards her. As it grew closer, the sound of a thousand voices speaking in unison rose around her. It started as a faint whisper and rose until it was a crashing crescendo. She tried to cover her ears but the voices continued to grow louder and louder until she could take no more.
She screamed.
It was a piercing, violent sound.
The voices went silent.
The billowing clouds grew still, rippling and twisting in place like a vaporous snake. Serena saw no eyes, no visible face, but still felt like it was watching her.
Who are you?
Though it held no corporeal form, Serena instinctively knew it was a who and not a what. She also knew the answer before it replied. She didn't know how she knew, but she felt a connection to this darkness.
I am one, and I am many, I am the creator and the creation, I am the enslaver and the redeemer, I am the father of chaos, I am the devourer of worlds.
Sounded like a lot of lofty claims to her.
What do you want with me?
The fog pulsated and Serena was overwhelmed with feelings if intense hate and unequivocal wrath..
I want what you have stolen.
Stolen?
Before she could question it, the fog exploded outward. Long, inky black tendrils of smoke plumed into the star studded space around her before arching inwards. They spiraled around her, caging her in and she caught a glimpse of the face which had been masked by darkness.
It was her own.
Serena woke with a start, her breath hitching, her eyes fluttering open.
Someone was in her room.
Without thinking she lashed out, her balled fist connecting squarely with something solid and fleshy. A startled cry broke the silence and Serena turned to see Sebastian with his hand clamped over his jaw.
"Damn, Serena," he complained. "I never would have thought you could hit so hard."
"I'm sorry," she gasped, the last remnants of her bizarre dream finally sliding away. Once her head had cleared she was able to better assess the situation. Rubbing her aching knuckles she retracted her apology. "Actually, no I'm not. What the hell are you doing in my room?"
"I warned you," he said ruefully. "It's nine o'clock."
Serena stared at him for a moment and then collapsed back against her pillows. She drew the blanket up over her head and called out, "come back at a decent hour you creep."
"Now now," Sebastian declared. "You made a promise. We can go on an adventure, or I can sit here and read your diary-"
His words were cut short by the pillow Serena expertly pegged at his face.
"Fine! Just get out so I can get dressed," Serena snapped irritably.
"You really need to find other ways to express your anger," Sebastian admonished as he backed towards the door. "Have you ever considered yoga?"
"Out!" Serena shouted again, throwing another pillow at him. This time he managed to dodge and avoid getting hit by the squishy projectile.
"Fifteen minutes or I'm coming back!" He added, quickly ducking out of the room before anything else could be thrown.
Worrying that he would hold true to his threat, Serena reluctantly rolled out of bed. Fifteen minutes? That wasn't even enough time for a shower.
As she quickly got ready, she couldn't shake the dream. It lingered in the back of her mind and taunted her with its obscurity. What did it mean? Was it just stress? Proof that she needed to eat less sweets before bedtime? She shook the thoughts from her head. She had bigger concerns at the moment than a weird dream.
Like the boy waiting downstairs.
What did he hope to gain from all of this?
Serena had a feeling she'd find out sooner rather than later.
Pulling her hoodie on over her head, she adjusted her earbuds so that they weren't visible through her loose, dark curls, and brought the music up to its usual low hum. Taking a deep breath, Serena left the safe sanctuary of her room and headed downstairs.
Serena was not surprised to see her father in his office yelling at his computer screen. Well, not the screen exactly, but whatever game it was that he was playing. Saturday mornings were his designated game-time and no one was allowed to interrupt him unless the house was on fire or they were bleeding to death.
Casey was nowhere to be seen which led Serena to assume that her younger sibling was either babysitting next door, or riding around the neighborhood on her bike with her friends.
Her mother was in the kitchen cleaning up dishes from breakfast and Sebastian was sitting at Serena's kitchen table with a plate that was home to half a dozen chocolate chip pancakes.
"Good morning, Serena!" Her mother exclaimed. Despite her cheery tone, Serena detected a hint of concern. Serena suspected her mother was waiting for some sort of outburst. "Your friend here said you two were supposed to go work on that project. I tried to tell him you liked to sleep in but.."
"It's okay, mom," Serena replied.
"It is? It is! Wonderful," she said with a sigh of relief.
"Well you two kids have fun," her mother said as she dried her hands off on a towel. "I'm going to do some shopping. We're having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, your friend is welcome to join us."
Serena resisted the urge to climb across the table and throttle Sebastian. Instead she offered her mother a faint smile.
"Sounds good, mom," she offered at which point her mother's smile grew tenfold.
"See you later!"
As she left the room, Serena began to wonder why she had agreed to this insanity at all.
"You," she said, staring pointedly at Sebastian. He'd managed to eat half the plate of pancakes during Serena's brief exchange with her mother. "Lets go."
"But I'm not-"
"Now."
Serena marched out of the kitchen towards the front door, not bothering to see if Sebastian was going to follow. Quite frankly, if he didn't she was going to go straight back up to her room, barricade the door, and go back to sleep.
Unfortunately, he had taken the hint and she heard the scrape of the chair against the tile floor as he rose to hurry after her. When he appeared in the hallway a moment later, Serena frowned.
"You didn't leave a mess, did you?" Serena asked.
Sebastian stared at her for a moment, then promptly turned on his heel and disappeared back into the kitchen. Serena felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. He was such an idiot, but an amusing idiot. The moment he reappeared, she turned away and pulled open the door.
"We aren't driving anywhere in that death trap of yours, are we?" She asked.
"Well, it's kind of a long walk, but if you insist on going on foot then we can leave my car here," Sebastian replied, burying his hands in his pockets as he followed her towards the street where his car was parked.
"Ugh, fine," she grumbled, exasperated. "But if I die, just know that I am going to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life. And I promise you, it won't be fun."
Sebastian grinned and after jiggling the handle a few times managed to get the passenger side door open. "Your chariot awaits," he declared with a sweeping bow. Serena felt that smile forcing its way out again.
"You're incorrigible, do you know that?" She asked with a roll of her eyes.
"You're not the first person to tell me that," he said thoughtfully. "One of these days I am going to have to figure out what incorrigible means."
Serena opened her mouth to explain, but quickly realized he was teasing. He closed the door and hurried over to the driver's side. Serena tried to pull her seat belt on but it refused to extend more than a few inches.
"You just gotta wiggle it," Sebastian tried explaining. When Serena couldn't seem to get it to work, Sebastian finally gave up instructing her and instead leaned over to do it himself. Serena's eyes grew wide and she became acutely aware of every hair on her body as goosebumps prickled across her skin. This wasn't the first time she'd gotten close to a boy, but it was the first time it had felt like electricity was passing between them. Serena held her breath as he gave the belt a little tug and it slid easily from its home.
"See? Wasn't so hard," he said, turning his face towards hers. They were so close that Serena could feel each warm breath as it rolled past his lips and smell the lingering scent of maple syrup and chocolate chips. It wasn't his mouth that had her full attention, though it was rather distracting. It was his eyes which seemed so much darker than she remembered.
It was slightly unsettling.
"Thanks," Serena managed at last. "We should get going, I have other things to do today."
That was a lie, but Serena wasn't sure what else to say.
Sebastian lingered in place a moment longer before grinning sheepishly. "Whatever you say," he replied. The seat belt clicked into place and Sebastian returned to his side of the car. It took two tries to get the car started and as they pulled away from the curb, Serena couldn't help but wonder if she should have just stayed in bed.