A knock startled me. My heart thumps like a jackhammer against my ribs.
"Are you sleeping?"
"No. If I were sleeping I wouldn't be answering."
My door opened a crack and I saw Gran's head peep inside. She saw my eyes bright and wide-awake.
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. You're sleeping alone tonight."
"Like I've done in the past two days and almost all my life. I'll be okay Gran. I'm not afraid."
She crawled up to me and sat on the side of my bed.
"That's what I'm worried about."
"What are you talking about?" I frowned.
She's wearing one of her sleeveless nightgowns, the typical outfit a grandmother would wear.
"You are just like your mother; stubborn, smart, brave, honest and independent. Don't tell her what I just told you."
A smile stretched my face. "My lips are sealed."
"But I see some parts of me in there too." She points at the area above my heart. "I see the fire in your eyes just waiting to be set free. You're like a young bud, yet to bloom."
"Very poetic." I pointed out.
"Don't be sassy with me young lady." She winked.
"You're hilarious Gran, I'm glad I got the chance to finally meet you again. It has been so long." I hugged her and she happily hugged me back.
"Nine years too late, but right back at'cha darling. I'm glad I have amazing grandchildren who are all little pieces of my Vina." She lovingly tangled her fingers in my hair. "Are you planning to stay up for the eclipse tonight? I hear it's starting exactly at midnight."
"I'm not sure, Gran. I think I have to sleep early. I have a flight early in the morning."
She nodded absentmindedly. "If I were young again I would, but at this age I'll probably sleep with my eyes open if I tried." I should better get going now. I don't want your mom stealing my jam for keeping you up all night. Sleep tight love."
"Night Gran."
"Night, June."
As soon as Gran left, it took a while before my eyes started to feel heavy. Few minutes later I was already snoring.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing? You need to run otherwise those creatures will have you against your will." I heard a voice.
"She's right. They're here! Oh no, you're about to be caught. Run! Run!" Another voice spoke and pointed at something in the dark.
There, I saw pairs of red eyes.
"Our precious. Ours!"
I woke gasping for air. Pulling down the blankets, I got up and sat at the edge of my bed facing the window. My whole body was drenched in hold sweat. My heart was working on overload.
Maybe I should go downstairs and get a glass of water.
I got up and went to the kitchen. When I came back I set the glass on my bedside and tried making myself comfortable in bed again. From the corner of my eye, I see the green illumination from my digital clock. I turn to my side and grabbed it. When I looked at the numbers, it read 12:00 midnight.
Gasping, I looked out the window and realized it was completely black outside. The only light coming from my room was my clock.
The eclipse has started.
For some reason, the fact makes me feeling jittery.
I look at the window once more and blink three times when I see six pairs of bright yellow dots staring straight at me.
It's just fireflies, I tell myself. Glancing again, they were gone.
Fireflies...
"Calm down, it's just a silly story." I chanted to myself. Damn it. I'm a soldier. There's nothing that could scare me let alone a legend.
I decided to sleep again but an ear tingling scratch made me cringe. The window remained closed, but I felt my skin prickly as if a gush of wind had just passed by. I gather my blankets tighter around my body and shut my eyes tight. My ears picked out the sound of shuffling and clicking against the hardwood floor. At this point, I knew my head was making things up.
I peeped out of my blanket and saw...nothing.
It was too dark to see.
The lampshade shook when my hand bumped into it as I searched for the on switch. It's as if I feel something breathing along my arm. I recoiled back like an elastic band.
Nearly swearing under my breath, I sit up.
"Jordan, is that you? I swear I'll kick your balls."
A growl coming from front of my bed virtually has me leaping. I hit my head on the bedpost and now it's pulsating.
"Jordan! This is not funny!" I warned him.
I heard the clicking sound again.
"When I find you, you're going to be sorry!"
Hopping off the bed, I circled around my bed searching for my twerp of a brother.
"If you don't show yourself, I'm going to shoot your ass." I threatened him again.
That will surely scare him.
Something soft, cold and wet traced patterns down my bare leg. I stood stunned as a statue trying to figure out what that something was.
My hand reached down and I felt something soft, furry and not belonging to my room.
The thing whimpered!
My foot instantly kicked out and I hit whatever it was, making it yelp. When I looked at it, there was an OTTER, RACOON and damn TURTLE!
Gran doesn't have those as pets! And what scared me more was that they were much bigger than normal and they were turning into men! Three damn men have naked before me!
I freak out and run towards my lamp, turning it on. Never in my life would I imagine seeing half-naked guys standing in my bedroom.
"This is an illusion!"
The half-naked jerks smiled, showing off their lady-catching smile. Their bodies were lean and hard; short hair dark black and tousled like it hasn't been combed.
"You," one of them spoke.
"What the hell are you doing in my bedroom, on private property?" I didn't give him the chance to answer, before I gasped. "How did you get in here? How the hell did you do that!?" I panicked, unconsciously covering my chest, then panicked a little bit more when I realized I'm not wearing a bra and had on only a tank top and short-shorts.
They knew I'm about to scream. One of them lunged at me. He covered my mouth with his palm and pulled out a cloth from the back of his hairy short. He uses it to gag me. I struggled, but he was too strong.
I couldn't see what's going on anymore because he covered my eyes too.
His arms slid underneath me and hauled me out the window kicking and flailing.
"This she-human has a lot more energy than those she-humans before her." I heard someone talking.
"Shut it. We need to hurry up before the portal closes up." I heard another voice.
Everything happened so fast and I felt the Were-Turtle leap from my room which was on the second floor.
I closed my eyes on instinct as I felt gravity pulling us down. My screams were muffled over the cloth. Just when I thought we died, I felt the force of his feet hitting the floor. My body vibrates from shock. This man was not human. No one could survive jumping that high and walk away as if it was nothing.
He sets me on my feet and grasps both my wrists. I'm trembling as I sensed his movements. The cloth around my eyes loosened and one eye peeked out. It was freezing cold outside, but the cold was the least of my worries. It was too dark for me to see then..whoever these crazy men were. I look up and notice a crest moon. The eclipse was barely over.
My common sense flicks back and my first instinct iwasto fight back -- kick, punch, knee, but nothing was working.
I couldn't quite register the sound, but I swear I heard them chuckling as I struggled to kick the man's ass.
Out of breathe and tired, my knees collapsed. His muscular arms haul me over his shoulder and I grunt when his shoulder bone dug deep against my hip.
This was not happening. I could not grasp the situation. I'll accept being insane as long as this was all a figment of my imagination.
My body started bouncing as he ran towards the woods. With a tilt to his head, he lets out an animalistic sound.
Every half century something would appear in the woods to search for their participants…
Gran's words plague my mind, before I faint into unconsciousness