Chapter 6:

*EDDIE'S POV:

"No,"

"It's just a movie!"

"I don't care."

"Too bad-"

"No-

"Zoie-"

"I don't like them."

For five minutes this argument over movie genres has been fought between Audy and Zoie. Audy wants to watch a scary one per usual, while Zoie is defending a romantic comedy. The thunderstorm was a big factor in Zoie's argument, saying it will make the atmosphere worse. I glanced over at Jalen, but he was already glancing at me. This needed to end. He finally convinced his girlfriend to calm down and give in to Audy's choice──something Zoie rarely does.

"Haha! I win!" Luna declared, throwing her fists up in victory. She clicked one of her favorites with the remote and crawled next to me on the couch. "She's gonna piss herself."

"I heard that!"

We got a half hour into the movie. Audy was nuzzled up next to me, her head on my shoulder as she played with the hem of my shirt. Jalen and Zoie were on the other couch and from what I see, she's scared to death. It was pretty funny actually.

"Did you say this was one of your favorites?" Zoie asked.

"Yeah," Audy replied.

"You're a sick freak."

"I know." she smiled.

Just as one of the more intense scenes rolled, a bolt of lightning sparked the entire night sky, accompanied by a sharp and loud roar of thunder. Luna shrieked and jumped on top of me (I'll admit I even jumped). Zoie screamed the loudest chucking the bowl of popcorn she was clutching. The power suddenly went off, surrounding the four of us in complete darkness. I was laughing to myself considering everyone probably heard Zoie scream.

"Are you okay? You're shaking like crazy." Jalen asked Zoie, trying to hold back a laugh.

"How about you?" I asked Audy.

She chuckled, "It gave me an excuse to jump on you."

"I think the power might be off for a while. It's out everywhere." Jalen said, glancing out the window. The street lights were off.

"Might as well go to bed." Audy said, pulling up the covers.

Zoie hissed, "You expect me to fall asleep after that?"

"Suck it up and hope lover boy over there protects you." she answered. "I'm tired."

Even though it was pitch black, I could still see Zoie's strong glare piercing through Audy's soul.

***

I slowly opened my eyes when a few specks of light obstructed the darkness of the living room. It took a few seconds to focus my foggy vision, but when everything was clear it was evident that the power had come back on. All the lights were switched off when the movie played, so the only source of electricity was the fuzzy black and white screen of the television. Since Audy was no longer curled up against my body, waking her by reaching for the remote on the side table wasn't an issue. The tip of my index finger searched for the large power button and switched the set off. The screen went black, letting darkness engulf the room again.

A sudden gust of cool wind whooshed into the room, sending goosebumps to scatter along the surface of my skin. I looked over towards the window and saw the slight gap of openness. It certainly wasn't open before because of the rain, but I didn't think much of it. The window seemed old and weak compared to the wind gusts outside. Leaving the warm spot from the couch, I then pushed down the edge of the window, making sure it was sealed well. The sky was much clearer with the storm over. Moonlight emphasized the glitter of the stars and peaked through the glass to highlight the room.

Turning back around to return to my previous spot, I jumped a little when Audy had slyly snuck her way to my warm spot, but smiled at the attempt. Cautiously sliding my arms under her figure, I lifted her in order to get back in my original position. She must've been completely passed out because her body was so limp and chilled. Something didn't feel right.

"Hey," I whispered, wiggling her around a bit. She didn't budge, but sometimes she just happens to sleep like a rock. I called her name a few more times, getting progressively louder with each unanswered breath. "Luna, wake up."

Everything clicked when the realization came as to why something seemed different. I wasn't feeling the slow rise and fall of her chest against mine. Her long breaths weren't tickling my skin, she wasn't lightly snoring like usual. Her body was a deadweight.

She wasn't breathing.

I yelled once more, bringing my ear close to the girl's slightly parted mouth. Air wasn't flowing in or out like it should've been. Eyelids folded back and revealed not sparkling blue eyes, but dark, almost black ones. Full-blown panic kicked in as I screamed for Jalen and Zoie. How the fuck can no one reply? I'm screaming my head off about someone we all love dearly, who happens to be lifeless at the moment! I turned on the lamp and saw the two of them sleeping soundly on the other couch. They were breathing just fine. I screamed again, "Someone fucking help her!"

In this moment of hysteria, CPR, or any medical procedure for that matter, had been wiped from memory. A voice finally spoke up and I saw Zoie standing in the corner on her phone, calmly calling for assistance. Not a second later, red and blue lights flashed outside. As soon as my hand reached for the doorknob, I heard a small voice.

"Eddie?"

It couldn't have been Audy. She was still breathless when I ran back to her.

"Eddie?" I heard again. "Eddie?"

I couldn't find where the voice was coming from.

"Eddie?"

The vocals deepened with each call.

"Eddie."

Screw it. The door wouldn't open after I dashed back to it. The medics needed to be let in so they could assist and revive. The locks were all disarmed, but no matter how hard I yanked and pulled at the door, nothing happened. They were banging violently on the other side.

"Eddie," the deep voice said again, closer and deeper. It didn't even sound like a fucking human anymore.

"Eddie!"

The door swung open and I fell to the ground, feeling a familiar sensation as I jolted back up and felt that I was on the couch again. Rubbing my eyes for a few seconds, the headache I obtained started to throb.

"Eddie? Are you okay?" a delicate voice asked.

Words couldn't form coherent sentences in my head let alone off my tongue. I just sat there taking shallow breaths and running a hand through my hair. I looked straight at Luna─who was alive─and let out a long sigh of relief.

Dream. It was a dream.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting up and crawling over to me. She reached past me and turned on the lamp next to my side of the couch. Grabbing my face with her petite hands, she looked into my eyes with worry.

I lunged my face forward so my lips smashed up against hers and held her tight against me. It caught her off guard a bit, but she didn't question it. "I was dreaming," was all I whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." she said, wrapping her hands up with mine. "Scary movie too much for ya, huh?" she cheekily said. I only shrugged.

"Okay, yeah, can we have sex with lights off please? Thank you." a sarcastic Zoie scoffed from the floor.

Luna huffed, turning the lamp off. "Try to go back to sleep."

***

Steaming hot breath entered through my nose, causing me to abruptly wake up. A big fat nose touched mine as crystal eyes stared back. Laughing, I told Apollo good morning. A giddy giggle erupted from the lower end of the couch and I sat up to look at Luna. It's about time, she joked to Apollo, scratching a sweet spot behind his ear. Mascara blotched around her eyes in a smoky way and her bun was halfway off her head with a few loose strands here and there. As gorgeous as ever, though.

"Morning, sleepyhead. It's one o'clock."

"Really?" I asked, sitting up.

"Don't worry, Jalen and Zoie are still passed out."

"Should we wake them up?"

"No, no." she said firmly, shaking her head. "Zoie's a total bitch if you wake her up. She's crabby."

"Oh," I said, "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"So are you."

"Touché," she said, jumping off the couch and skipping to the kitchen.

"What would the prince like to eat this morning?"

"Afternoon," I corrected, "and doesn't matter."

"Well," she hummed, "I guess I could make waffles. . ." I raised an eyebrow at her tone as she slowly backed towards a cabinet. "Or. . .we could have a delicious and nutritious bowl of cereal." she finished, holding up a box of cinnamon squares. I threw my head back, laughing. Is that a yes, she asked.

"Grab the bowls," I chuckled, pulling out two spoons from the silverware drawer. We ate the cereal at the middle island together, quietly chatting about life. As we both finished our second bowls, Jalen and Zoie walked in from the living room.

"Morning, princess." Luna chirped to Zoie. She groaned, holding up her hand with the middle finger highly displayed.

"Told you," Audy mumbled to me. "We just had cereal. You guys can have whatever you want. You know where everything is."

"Okay," Jalen grumbled, putting his head down.

"Uh, maybe you two shouldn't have gotten up yet," I said, observing how exhausted they still were.

Zoie hissed, "He woke me up."

"You kicked me." Jalen groaned.

"Doesn't mean you had to yell."

"It hurt, dumbass."

"You two are the perfect morning couple." Luna cooed.

"Shut up," they said simultaneously.

After a long silence, Audy spoke up again, "So, what do you guys want to do?"

"Isn't there a festival near the boardwalk today?" Jalen asked.

"Yeah, I think there is." I answered.

Audy begged, "We have to go. Please?"

"I'm fine with it, you guys?" I asked.

"Yeah, sound fun. Let me wake up first." Zoie said.

Audy mumbled, "We're never going to go."

"Not if you're dead!"

-

*LUNA'S POV:

After freshening ourselves up, we all hopped in Jalen's car and he drove down to the festival, which was basically a carnival type venue. There were various game booths, food stands, flea markets, and rides.

"What do you want to do first?" Eddie asked, looking down at me.

I shrugged, "I dunno. This looks different than last year's."

"It does. It looks worse, actually." Jalen admitted. "Hey, Munson, bet I can beat you at ring toss."

"In your fucking dreams." Eddie retorted, patting me on the back to let me know he was going after Jalen. It was adorable.

I turned to Zoie who was waiting for me to make a decision. I stated, "I'm gonna head over to the flea market."

We walked along the market section together and observed each little stand. Most of the seemed to be for advertisement. It took about fifteen stands until the good stuff came along such as the crafts and homemade goods. I admired some dream catchers while Zoie bargained for a pair of sunglasses at another stand. I had mainly seen everything I wanted to see, so I waited until my friend was done before making another suggestion.

"Wanna ride some rides?" I asked.

"It's either that or we go find our boyfriends."

***

After stumbling out of the very last ride, all of us plopped down on the bench by the popcorn stand. There weren't long lines for any of the rides, so it was literally just ride after ride after ride. We were all pretty worn out by now and I'm surprised no one threw up yet. But then again, the rides were basically for children.

Jalen's sigh was relaxed, "We good?"

"I guess so." I answered. "Should we leave? I mean we've been here for a few hours and there's nothing left to do."

"Yeah, my head's kinda throbbing." Eddie winced.

"Rides too wild for ya?" I joked, but he didn't react.

We gathered out things and began to walk to the car. Considering we came empty handed, we were leaving with arms full. Zoie and I had eventually bought a few items and the boys were enjoying the games, so everytime they won they would give us the prizes. Eddie started to look uneasy as we approached the car. Shit, he muttered, dropping everything from his arms and running over to a nearby trashcan. I followed him over and as soon as I had gotten to him, he clutched the sides of the bin and leaned over, releasing the contents of his stomach into it. Placing a soothing hand on his back, he stood up straight just moments after, letting out a shaky sigh. I offered some soothing medicine from my purse and some water. He thanked me and gulped down the pills and water.

Jalen and Zoie had managed to get everything to the car while we stood by the trashcan. He pulled up next to us so we wouldn't have to walk. Jalen made the suggestion of dropping Zoie and I off at my house and he'd take Eddie home. Sounds good, we all agreed.

It wasn't too long of a drive, but Eddie looked uneasy the entire ride. His hand gripped at his thigh from time to time, trying to control the urge to react to his sickness. I hope it was just the rides. I hate seeing him so miserable.

The two of us got dropped off at the end of the driveway. All of us exchanged goodbyes and thank you'd before the boys were off.

Walking up to the front door, I made a puzzling conclusion. "So, uh. . . who's gonna open the door?"

The both of us looked at the locked front door and then back at our arms, full of stuffed animals and purchases. Even though it was completely stupid, Zoie and I started to laugh hysterically, making us drop everything anyway. I unlocked the door and Apollo came running out, pouncing on all of the stuffed toys. He grabbed one in his mouth and started to toss it around, but I gasped when I realized it was one of my favorites Eddie had given me.

"Apollo! No, no, drop it." I commanded, sticking out my hand.

The crystal-eyed husky spit out the toy reluctantly. Walking over to the pile in the middle of the yard, I rummaged through it and found three alike small stuffed bears. I snatched one up and threw it towards the dog, which he happily ran after and around with. Zoie and I picked the rest up and walked inside, later sorting everything on the living room floor.

I sighed, "I hope Eddie's okay."

"It was probably just motion sickness from all those rides." Zoie answered.

"I don't know, maybe. He said he hasn't been getting a lot of sleep lately and he even had a nightmare last night. He woke up shaking."

"Is that why you two were up last night? Did he say anything about it?"

"No, he just told me he loved me and wanted to go back to sleep. I could still feel his heart beating out his chest when I cuddled up afterwards."

"Honestly. . .it might have involved you though. Could he just be getting sick? Summer bugs aren't impossible."

Upset by the thought that his nightmare could've been about me, I agreed anyway. "I'm probably just overthinking it."

"Just don't freak out too much, okay? You don't need to lose your mind the summer before college." she slightly laughed. "On that note, I think I'm gonna head back to my house. Mom wants me to apply for more scholarships."

"Have fun with that," I said, helping her gather her things to her car.

I waved as she drove away, going back inside to plop on the couch. A groan escaped my throat as I realized I should clean up the mess scattered along the carpet. Figuring most of these could suffice for dog toys, I tossed a few in the supply closet and took the rest to my room. Apollo jumped up next to me on the bed with his stuffed bear hanging from his mouth.......................................................A/N: poor baby :(

What do you think is happening to Eddie?

Does anyone have a dream catcher? I do.

Read/Add/Follow/Comment/Vote!

xoxo