Luna Rossa (Red moon)
I ran, ran fast into the woods. I was being chased by a dark figure into the night, I could feel its hot breath on my neck and I could hear its heavy footsteps behind me, I was terrified.
I tossed and turned on the bed. My nightmares were coming back, more vivid, more terrifying.
I woke up with a start, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Hey, you're awake," Ariana said, sipping her cup of coffee. "Good morning."
"Good morning," I tried to shake off my disoriented feeling. "What time is it?"
"10 am."
"Shit!" I jumped out of bed. I was late for class. I hurried into the bathroom, showered, and brushed my teeth in record time.
There shouldn't be much of an entrance for a fresher right? I ran through my closet looking for something comfortable. I dressed up quickly and grabbed my backpack.
"See you later, Ari" I dashed out the door.
Determined not to be later than I already was, I raced down the hallway.
"Hey! Watch it!" The growl came from beside me.
I had accidentally bumped into a student and his expression was anything but friendly.
"I am so sorry," I said. "I wasn't looking." I tried to step around him, but he grabbed my arm.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked.
"I am late for class" I tried to struggle out of his grip "Please let me go."
But he tightened his hold on my arm. "Not until you tell me your name."
I hesitated. I didn't know this guy, and he was starting to scare me. "My name is Gabriella," I said finally.
"Gabriella," he repeated. "That's a pretty name." he leaned in close to me. "What are you doing tonight, Gabriella?"
I was starting to panic. There was no one in the hallway, everyone was either in class or at their dorm.
As he leaned closer to me, the expression on his face darkened.
"Leave her alone," The voice rang out from behind me.
I turned to see a 5 '7" inch, the same kind I had seen a few weeks ago at the mall. 'Nico'.
"Scurry on away man. This is none of your business."
"I said let her go!" Nico's voice was more commanding.
The student laughed. "Or what?" he said.
Nico took a step forward, his gaze stern. "I will make you," he said.
He hesitated for a moment, then slowly released my arm. "Don't think you have seen the last of me Gabriella," he whispered and stormed off the hallway.
I felt shaken, and frightened by the threat.
"Thank you," I turned to look at Nico but he was already walking to his class. I tried to run after him but realized it was the same class I had, so I went in.
The hall was massive and filled with a bunch of people. I tried to look for an empty seat without creating a scene.
As I sat down, I listened to the professor introduce himself but drifted into the incident in the hallway. Who was that guy? Why did Nico come to save her? Why did I keep having nightmares about someone chasing me in the woods?
Speaking of My dreams, I never told Dad or Nanny about it for fear of them getting too worried. It stopped at some point, but now it looked like they were coming back in full force.
"Luna Rossa," The mention of that name jerked me off my seat.
"Present sir," I shouted.
"Are you Nicola Luna Rossa Deville?" The professor asked adjusting his glasses.
I turned to meet Nicola's eyes, his hand lifted. I flinched "No sir," I said and sat down. The hall burst into laughter.
'Luna Rossa' How was Nico bearing the same middle name as me? Mom had told me the name was unique to my birth. Luna Rossa, meaning red moon, that's why I picked a fancy to the frame I saw at my new home.
The class was over in no time and I hurried outside in search of Nico. I wanted to at least tell him thank you for earlier. Oh, there he was.
As he moved towards my direction, I smiled a little and said "Thank you for earli….."
He brushed my shoulders and moved past me. I stood still, confused. Maybe he didn't see me. I hurried after him again. "Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for…"
His cold gaze stopped me dead. His eyes studied my face and nibbled down to my lips, I swallowed hard.
"Hey Nico, we gotta go." his friend punched him on the shoulder.
Somehow he was more handsome than the first time I saw him. I turned as I watched the only man who had been able to raise strange sensations from my body walk out of sight. 'So much for a grand entrance…'
****
The noise came from my room.
"I can't wait to be there," They squealed again as I opened the door.
"Hey you back," Ariana stood up from her bed. "I was just telling them about the party for tonight."
"Party?" I asked. Looking at the bunch of strangers in my room.
"Yeah, it's a fresher party. But all the cool kids would be there." she paused. "You coming?"
"I don't think I will." I was already exhausted from how the day turned out, I didn't want to go to a party and make a fool of myself again.
"Please Ella, I don't want to go without my roommate…pleasseee," Ariana gave a funny puppy dog face.
"Alright, I will go," I accepted.
"Yayy!! I heard Nico would be attending" She turned towards the girls in the room.
At the mention of his name, the room went cold, and every part of my body became sensitive. Why did he have such an effect on me? He snubbed me back in class like he didn't remember, or didn't he?...' Nico…I guess I would see him tonight.'
The PartyThe house looked like it was owned by a superstar. We drove in Ariana's friend's car, with a few of her other friends who giggled about the party in my room. I didn't know what to expect, but not what I was seeing right now.I have never been in a room with so many people around. They were booze everywhere and horny teens feasting on each other's bodies. The loud music kept me from hearing what Ariana was saying to me."Relax,"Ariana nudged my shoulders. "It's just a party, they won't bite.""Okay,"I smiled pretentiously.The tension began to ease up a little as I watched other students have fun."Ari Ari.."A girl from the crowd rushed towards Ariana. "You need to come see this. Phil just stripped on the kitchen table and is putting up a show.""Shut up!"Ariana sounded excited. She let go of my hands and ran towards what seemed like a dream come true for her."Hey,"I called out, hoping she could hear me with the loud music playing in the background. "You said we would stick
. It Wasn't LiesThe entire school went on with its activities like something strange didn't happen the other night. I got stared at and mocked like I made the whole story up."She's dying, she's dying,"One of the boys in my class mimicked my voice from the night at the party. The lecture hall burst into laughter. They threw a paper at me that read 'FREAK' on it.'So much for keeping things low Ella..'But I knew what I saw, I wasn't faking it like it was one of those dreams I had. I turned back and watched as they pointed at me and laughed hard. My eyes met Nico's and I could tell for a moment he somehow believed what I said."Good morning class"The lecturer walked In and diverted my attention to him."So strange news came to me this morning about the party of last night"He continued.I sat up straight believing it was time for me to be vindicated. Here it goes."I believe I spoke about you guys playing it low with the level of alcohol you drink at your parties"I stared in unbelief
. A Light At The Tunnel"Isn't he wonderful?"Ariana gushed.I watched Lola laugh about something Nico told her that probably wasn't funny."He sure is,"I frowned.Ariana looked at me and followed the direction of my gaze. "You know it's fine if you admit that you like him.""What!!?"I was startled by Ariana's words. "I don't like him, what's there to like?"I grumbled.Ariana smiled and left her seating position to meet me. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders "Of course you don't,"She paused. "But you didn't notice I was talking about Phil and not Nico." There was a very long pause. I turned to meet Ariana's teasing look. "Come on Ari, I knew you were talking about Phil."I lied."Hell yeah, you did,"She mocked and stood up to cheer the boys playing on the field.'Shit….'The last thing I needed was someone constantly reminding me of my feelings for Nico and, most of all, Ariana. He was a people man, guys loved him, and girls adored him. He had it going on so well for him. He did
A State Of Confusion"Redhead." "Redhead." "Hey Ella!!" I stumbled back into reality as Nico growled my name. "Huh?"I looked at him startled "What?" "Are we doing this or what?"Nico was as confused as I was. "Oh right,"I stood up. "Unbelievable,"he muttered.We were supposed to carry out our research on the dog today, a task that required our full attention. But my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, each one more troubling than the last. The conversation I overheard at the restroom the other day kept replaying in my head, casting a dark shadow over my mood. I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong, but for my life, I couldn't figure out whatWith a shake of my head, I tried to banish the lingering echoes of the conversation, pushing them aside to make room for the work at hand."Let's go,"I said to Nico and picked up my bag."Hey, are you okay?"Nico asked, surprising me with the concern in his voice.There was no way I could tell him about the conversation I ov
Missing linksWe gathered around the body outside the girl's dorm. The shock was nothing close to what I was feeling as I stared at the bruised body in horror.It was happening again. The same face scratch, the excessive amount of bleeding and the slow pants. The image of the girl from the party flashed back and I felt a thud in my chest.This was real!! They were monsters in this school, or maybe one monster. But I was relieved a bit, that this time, a bunch of other students could see what I saw. Maybe they would finally believe me and the need for name-calling like "Freak and Crackhead"would stop."Give way, give way"An ambulance came to pick up the body and zoomed off.The crowd was already getting noisy as they murmured to each other. I only stood and watched as the ambulance drove, hoping that the boy stayed alive"This is becoming eerie,"Ariana walked up from behind me. "Why would someone do that to a fellow human?"I turned to look at her frightened face. Ariana's face had gro
The Catch"Dad!"He had gone silent over the phone, not saying a word. "Dad!!"I repeated. "Yes?"His voice was cold."You didn't respond to my question."My curiosity was getting the best of me."What question? I couldn't hear the last statement you made, I think the service went bad,"He lied.It was happening again, just like at home when he acted like he saw a ghost the moment he laid eyes on that frame, he was getting cold feet over the same topic.If Dad wasn't going to tell me what I needed to know, I would have to find out for myself."It's nothing, Dad,"I said in a low voice. "It's probably the service playing tricks on us."Since he wasn't going to tell me anything, how about I also act clueless."Alright Dad,"I wanted to rap up the futile conversation. "I have a class now, talk to you later.""Okay Ella, and Ella"He pushed, "Be careful."I could have sworn there was fright in his voice. "Yes, Dad."I hung up and walked straight to class.*****The woods closed in on me as I cont
In Denial. "Al..pha…"I typed on my laptop and read through, scanning each word as I took in the truth. I was still in a whirlwind of emotions from last night's discovery. My eyes were sore and swollen, I had cried on my way back, running and not looking back. I soaked myself in water every 15 minutes to see if the terrible dream I had just experienced would go away, but it was too real to call off. How could Nico be a werewolf? He didn't look like a person capable of murder. And then Garry and Lola?? I placed my hands on my chest gently rubbing it. The truth was too much to bear. "What are you doing?"Ariana raised her head from her bed. I quickly shut my laptop and replied in secrecy "Nothing." "Why are you up so early,"she yawned and stretched. "So I could study in peace,"My voice gave away the need for privacy and I was hoping Ariana was going to understand that. "Okay, nerd,"She went back to sleep. I turned back to my laptop and read through the words again for the milli
I know all that you know.I took a deep breath and walked into the patient room. It was hard coming in to see him considering how tight the security was at the door. The school authorities were still trying to do their job by protecting him. The guards made sure they emptied your bags and searched every little thing you were taking into the room. My flowers almost got ripped off their stems.But I was happy they finally let me through. I stood close to his bed and examined his body. He was healing thankfully, but they were still part of his body that was bandaged."Hi"I finally spoke "I am Ella. You probably don't know me, but I attend the same college as you.""Yeah, I figured. I am Drew"he smiled and said in a low tone. "Students have been buzzing in here like bees."he chuckled a little and held his chest in pain.I rushed further and placed my hand on his bed "Please be careful."He was still able to make little jokes after what he went through."I brought this for you,"I stretched