I’m dreaming again and I know it. I’m in a field this time, surrounded by the scent of hundreds of roses. The wind whispers past, bringing the petal of a rose to fall on my nose. I giggle as I brush it off. It’s midnight and the moon is shining bright which seems to make my dream all the more beautiful.

  Far in the distance, I see a glow. A glow that begins to fill the sky. The dark and the light fight for space, battling in an ongoing war. Dark is pushed away as a figure is seen in the distance. The silhouette comes closer, crossing the field as the sun lights her way. A girl with skin the color of melted chocolate and hair like the midnight sky comes and sits across from me as I look to the sky, wondering where my night has gone.

  “Riley,” she whispers, her voice almost song-like. I look back at her, wondering how she knew my name. She meets my gaze with eyes of blue, adorned by flecks of gold. “I am here to warn you about an aspect of the night, the stars.”

  “Stars will not guide, they will mislead and betray like darkness of night.” I start to object when she says, “Trust the light. It will guide you to safety.”

  At that point, the cover of night took over once again, extinguishing the light in the sky. I was beginning to feel more at ease until I sense something was missing, the moon.

  Although with no moon, stars litter the night sky, shining brightly and giving a sense of security. The girl beside me shifts uneasily, distrust evident in her eyes. Up in the sky, the stars start to spin. Around and around like a ferris wheel they spun. They seem to come closer and closer until they almost seem close enough to touch.

  Suddenly, a boy appears beside me. With eyes of blue with copper shrapnel embedded into the iris, he turned to me and reaches to the sky to grab a star. The girl looked at me, took my hand, and started to run. I grew furious, a strange desire to stay with the boy burning inside me, and started to claw at her to let me go. She let go and stared in disbelief as I ran back to the boy who controls the stars. I ran and collapsed in the boy’s arms, not wanting to ever let go for as long as I lived. I looked into his eyes and what I saw confused me, I saw sympathy.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  As I tried to wonder why this was the expression he chose to wear, I felt an excruciating pain on my wrist. I screamed as I tried to wrench my arm from his grasp. He remained firm, letting something mold into my skin. The look in his eyes frightened me as he spoke softly, “With this mark, you are now mine.”

  Terrorized, I stared at my wrist. My mark was in the form of a star. The girl finally reached me and cringed when she saw my wrist. She stared into my eyes and whispered in panic, “We need to go now.” As we tried to flee, the boy looked up to the sky. The stars turned an ominous blood-red and seemed to started to fall. As they fell to the earth, the girl’s eyes filled with terror. I soon realized why the stars were so terrifying.

  As the stars collided with the earth, they exploded and made the once peaceful field end in utter destruction. I almost couldn’t believe it. It seemed to have instantaneously turned into the Devil’s realm. The once beautiful flowers had erupted into flames, the ground seemed to be launching itself into the air, almost like some child was using it as an old trampoline. An old trampoline that was fraying and splitting to the point where the whole trampoline crashes to the ground.

  The girl looked at me and shouted to me with panic evident in her voice, “Adleremse, that’s my name. Remember that.” She turned to run when a star bursted and hit her in the leg like shrapnel and her screams were deafening as she hit the ground. The world spun as destruction and Adleremse’s screams filled my surroundings, making me fall to the ground.

  The boy looks over me and states calmly, “You see, look at what the stars can do in the most terrifying circumstance. They can destroy, they can hurt, they can betray. But stars do not always lead astray. They can bring light, hope, and happiness. They lead the way in the darkness of the night. Riley, join me and we will be together as the moon with her stars. If you see reason, you’ll know where to find me.”

  He turned and took a step, but he turned back. “Please,” he whispered as his eyes filled with longing. “Come back to me.” He turned and continued to walk away. As he left, Adleremses’s blood-curdling screams filled my ears and all goes black.