Dead by Morning (Rituals of the Night Book One)

by Kayla Krantz

  He lay behind the bush he had crouched behind in the last dream. His arm radiated pain from when he had been shot. Faint phantom pains still managed to echo throughout him and squirts of blood found their way to the surface of his skin.

  He wiped at it absently, growing dizzier as the blood leaked out, but in the middle of the woods, nothing would be able to slow it. Then, he felt something new; a strong tug on his collar brought the front of his shirt up against his throat, and he realized he was being dragged. He tried to protest or fight, but the blood loss weakened him. He looked up at whoever was there, trying desperately to catch their identity. He only glimpsed a flash of black, no details.

  He coughed, struggling to breathe. Still being dragged, a bit faster now, Max kicked out, trying to get the figure to let him go. He barely had an impact. The tight grip dropped him roughly, and the back of his head slammed into the ground.

  Max groaned but managed to turn his head enough to see the clearing ahead of him and the boots of the figure beside him. A cabin and a temple sat side by side, and Max knew his initial feeling of dread when he had first entered the dream was spot on.

  A dog’s frustrated howling rang out from somewhere nearby. Max jumped. He tried turning his head again, wary of having a dog that sounded like that coming anywhere near him. He caught a glimpse of large dogs milling about around the cabin, eating chunks of something, but he couldn’t tell their breeds or how many of them there actually were. He shook his head.

  Luna would not be happy.

  ***

  LUNA SHOT STRAIGHT up in bed as the cabin disappeared. The sight of her walls didn’t bring her much comfort. Sweat drenched her entire face, and her black hair was matted thickly to her forehead. She wiped the sweat off, still shaking a bit from the aftershock of her dream. She knocked the covers off of her as she tried to frantically catch her breath.

  It was only a dream, Luna told herself to calm down, even though subconsciously she knew better than that.

  Her efforts to stop panicking were futile. She had the feeling the new dream somehow tied to the first one as if this dream had simply continued where the other had left off. But then why had she had the first dream twice?

  Could that be of any importance?

  Luna stood up shakily as she tried her best to compose herself. She didn’t want to lie back down right away to try to sleep because she’d see the image of the bloody dagger again if she did. It had been burned into the back of her eyelids with what felt like a branding iron.

  Still feeling unsteady, she managed to walk across her room and into the kitchen without falling. She used the wall to hold her up for a moment. Maybe a glass of cold water would help her calm down. She went over to the sink and filled up a cup. She carefully crossed the kitchen and took small sips out of the glass. Her mind began to wander, and she stared at the dark water as it splashed against the sides of the cup.

  In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder if Max had had the same dream that she had tonight. Luna wished tomorrow would come quicker so she could talk to him already. Tomorrow seemed so far away, especially when sleep was next to impossible to come by.

  Luna sighed as she set the cup in the sink and silently headed back to her room. She settled down onto her bed, blinking, before her eyes opened again. The image of the bloody dagger wouldn’t leave her mind. It wasn’t so much the sight of the blood glistening on the blade that had bothered her, but the thought that went along with the image.

  Who had he killed with it?

  And who was ‘he’ anyway? He seemed so familiar to Luna, but his identity remained out of reach. If she knew him, she couldn’t seem to point out who was haunting her dreams. The bloody dagger belonged to him, that much she knew for sure.

  Was it possible she knew someone that cruel? The voice in her head whispered, Chance. Susan had said that he had admitted to killing someone, but Luna found that in that moment, she had a hard time believing her. She’d keep her mind open; anything was possible ever since she had found out Chance’s secret.

  No, this isn’t possible, a tiny voice seemed to answer her after a moment of thinking. It’s just not possible.

  She pulled the covers back up to her neck and stared up at the ceiling through unblinking eyes. It was hard to fall asleep knowing what could be waiting in the invisible realm on the edge of reality. She closed her eyes, satisfied that she finally didn’t see the image of the dagger burned there.

  Sleep engulfed her, and the vivid dream replayed through her mind once again.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  CHANCE AWOKE FEELING pure joy. He definitely had Luna trapped in his dreams. The feeling wore off as he remembered finding the boy he had shot out in the woods—the one with the obvious connection to Luna. Whoever he was, he had seen Chance in his worst element making him a definite problem…especially since Chance didn’t know him.

  Could he be the mystery person Luna had been talking to on the phone yesterday? He didn’t know, didn’t have the smallest clue, but he did know one thing for sure—he was going to stick to her like glue. There were too many threats to leave her unattended. Susan, whom he reminded himself to keep an eye on as well, and the strange kid Luna wouldn’t tell him about. If she thought he was annoying before, it was nothing compared to how he would be now.

  ***

  THE BELL RANG, announcing lunch. Luna got up gratefully from her desk as her stomach churned in hunger. She heard Chance stand up behind her and felt his hands set gently on her shoulders. She puffed out her cheeks as she held her breath and stood in place, gathering the last of her books in her arm.

  “Luna,” he said softly.

  She blinked in annoyance and turned to look at him—an action she had avoided all day. He hadn’t been in study hall, and he had been surprisingly silent in class. Luna didn’t want to see him though because the sight of him would cause her to remember the whole incident with Susan yesterday.

  He—he killed someone.

  Luna couldn’t—wouldn’t—believe that. Chance was violent, sure, but a murderer? It was too much for Luna to take. If she looked at him, she’d see the mental images of him threatening Susan, and all of her conscious thought would be rendered useless if she would flash back to him threatening her.

  “What?”

  “Are you going to lunch?” he questioned.

  She stuck her tongue in her cheek. Luna realized she could look at him and still found annoyance. Fear had no place in her at the moment. “Maybe I am.”

  “Can I come with you today?” he asked, and all around them kids gasped in surprise at his question like they couldn’t believe it.

  Luna wasn’t surprised. In fact, she was more agitated and worried than ever. Why was he keeping such a close eye on her? Did he know that she had already told Violet his secret? Or did he know that Susan had come to her in tears yesterday?

  “If you want to,” Luna replied.

  It didn’t matter if she said ‘yes’ or ‘no’—he’d follow her anyway. Something bothered him; he wouldn’t say what, he’d just shadow her until his mind cleared. She turned away from Chance to walk away toward the cafeteria.

  “I do want to,” she heard him say, and his hand brushed against hers once as he walked beside her.

  She pulled farther away from him and set her hand in her pocket as they walked side by side down the hall. She noticed the curious stares on the faces of all the people they passed. Popular and unpopular alike couldn’t believe she walked with Chance to lunch…like she even wanted to. She remembered what Amy had told her the other day, the rumor that she and Chance were dating.

  Luna chewed on her lip; going to lunch with him didn’t help that any.

  Luna led the way into the cafeteria, with Chance immediately to her right. She glanced around the wide room as she observed the line. There weren’t many people in it so she took her place, Chance still beside her. She tried to ignore him at first, but the feeling of his presence overwhelmed her as she remem
bered everything Susan and Violet had said.

  Chance’s own words surged in her head.

  “Your friends are over there.” She pointed to a table nearly filled with cheerleaders and jocks. One of the cheerleaders waved at him at the gesture.

  “Nah, I’m good right here,” he said, not moving an inch as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

  Rolling her eyes, she took a step forward and grabbed a Styrofoam tray from the pile. She put a chicken sandwich and a juice on it before she paid the lunch lady and stood at the end of the line, scanning the lunchroom.

  She searched for Violet. She hadn’t been able to find her that morning and guessed that Violet had assumed she didn’t want to see her. She spotted her at a table by the window, eating lunch by herself. Luna rushed over to her, and Chance flanked her as she ran. He hadn’t gotten himself a lunch; he had stood in the line with her for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on her.

  Luna needed to talk to Violet. She was done trying to tell her Chance’s secret since she had seen it for herself. She wanted to get Violet to listen to her about her dreams instead. She sat down at the table across from Violet, and Chance sat down beside her.

  “Hi, Violet,” she greeted then took a bite of her sandwich.

  Violet glanced up at her, and her eyes flashed with unreadable emotion at the sight of Chance. “Hey, Luna.”

  “I have some news.”

  Luna felt Chance tense and knew what ran through his mind. He had assumed she was going to tell Violet. Little did he know, she had already done that.

  “What now?” Violet asked as she took a bite out of her own sandwich.

  Her eyes flicked between Chance and Luna, and she could almost guess Violet’s thoughts. She expected Luna to tell her something else bad Chance had done, and Luna wanted to—but like Susan, fear kept her silent.

  “Well, Max called me yesterday,” Luna began hesitantly, wondering how Violet would react.

  “Who is Max?” Chance looked between the girls. Inside, Luna laughed. He may be popular, but he didn’t know everyone.

  They ignored his question as they continued talking. Chance frowned.

  “The one from elementary school?” Violet asked her, setting down her sandwich as she shifted in her seat.

  “Yeah, him.”

  “I haven’t heard from him in forever, how’s he been?” she asked, her tone lighter.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t talk about himself much.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Then why’d he call?”

  “He had the exact same dream that I did,” Luna replied.

  Violet looked away without a word. Luna could tell she had lost all interest the second she had said ‘dream.’ “Why worry about a stupid dream, Luna? You have other problems to deal with.” Her gaze flicked to Chance again.

  “What dream are you talking about?” Chance raised his brow casually.

  “It’s an annoying one she puts too much thought into when her real problem is much closer,” Violet answered, glaring at him as she spoke. Chance’s expression didn’t falter.

  Luna frowned at Violet. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  Violet looked back at her. “Not at all.”

  “Why?” Luna asked, slamming her fist onto the table.

  “Because I don’t think your priorities are in line.”

  “What if the dream is connected?”

  Chance tensed.

  “The dreams aren’t important.”

  “B-but, he described it to every detail,” Luna stammered.

  “Did he say it after you told him yours?”

  Luna nodded.

  “Then he’s lying! He just thought up something that sounded like yours to trick you! He always did think it was funny to pull your leg.”

  “No, he’s not lying this time. I just know he isn’t.”

  “And how do you know that for sure?” Violet set down her sandwich and stared at Luna, tight-lipped and unblinking.

  Honestly, Luna didn’t know how she knew. “No trace of any lie in his tone, he was sincere.”

  Violet dropped her chin to her chest, shaking her head. When she lifted it again, she took a deep breath. “So what?”

  “Just listen to me. I had another dream.”

  “You and your dreams,” Violet muttered. “When will you realize that they aren’t real?”

  Luna hesitated. Chance hadn’t said anything the whole time she argued with Violet. Did he know something about it?

  “They might be real…listen,” Luna pleaded, desperate to get Violet to believe there was something more to the dream, just like there had been something more to Chance’s Satanism. “This dream started where the other dream left off. I got pushed into this cabin and shackled to the wall. There was a dagger covered in blood right by me. It was horrible!”

  Violet didn’t look up from her sandwich as she spoke. “What did you eat before you went to sleep?”

  “I’m being serious, Violet, but since you don’t want to believe me, I have proof.”

  “Oh, and what would that be?” she asked, taking another bite of her lunch.

  “I’ll have Max tell you himself what he dreamt,” Luna said.

  She snorted. “Yeah, that’s not proof, Luna.”

  Luna sighed and set her hand to her forehead as she stared down at the table. No matter how much she argued with her, she couldn’t seem to get her point across. What could she possibly do to make her understand?

  “What’s that on your wrist?” Luna heard Chance ask.

  Both Violet and Luna frowned and glanced up from the table. Luna pulled down her sleeves to reveal her arms underneath. Deep purple-black splotches in a round pattern encircled her wrists. Her jaw dropped as she stared at them, obvious bind marks. Violet gasped as she stared at the ugly marks. Luna flexed her wrists in the light, trying to get a better look. Chance grabbed her wrist and held it close to his face. She tried to pull it back, but he wouldn’t let go.

  The dream had obviously had an effect on her. Chance ran his fingers over it once as if feeling for something in the marks. He didn’t say anything, and she winced as he pushed on the bruises before she managed to pull her wrist away from him.

  “How’d you get those?” Violet demanded.

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Luna muttered as she finally recovered from her shock. “This is solid proof to me that this dream is something more than ‘just a dream.’”

  Violet was speechless.

  “I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but there’s something deep to this,” Luna said after a minute.

  “It makes no sense at all!” Violet exclaimed. “It really looks like you were chained to a wall! You can’t fake marks like that unless you had a dog mauling your wrists, but I don’t think you’d go that far to prove your point.”

  “I’m not messing myself up to prove a point. This stuff is real…even if it doesn’t make sense.”

  “This isn’t right.”

  Luna felt a small trill of satisfaction as she watched Violet visibly struggle to keep up her wall and fail miserably. She glanced at Chance from the corner of her eye, wondering what he thought about it. His hand covered his mouth, and his eyes stared down at the table.

  Luna ignored the strange reaction as she returned her attention to Violet. “Well, I was bound in the dream, but it seems like the marks followed me right out of it.”

  “There has to be something you’re not telling me,” Violet said.

  Luna shook her head. “I’ve told you everything I know.” With that, she gave her bruised wrists a final look and pulled down her sleeves to cover her ghastly marks from sight.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  LUNA LAY HER head on her desk as her eyes began to droop in exhaustion. She was usually tired after lunch, and history was the most boring class ever. It wouldn’t hurt her G.P.A. any if she took a quick cat nap. She closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. She felt relief at the welcoming peace that came without a drea
m.

  A sharp jab to her ribs made her wince, and she snapped back awake. She ignored it as she tried to get comfortable again. In class, Chance sat in the seat next to her. After a second, she felt a second sharp jab hit the same spot. Luna opened her eyes, annoyed, and turned to glare at him.

  “What do you want now?” she hissed.

  “Hey, don’t get mad at me, I wanted to make sure you didn’t sleep through such an important lesson,” he replied calmly. “You should be thanking me for this.”

  She groaned lightly and ground her teeth as she continued to glare at him. He stared right back. His almost colorless eyes seemed challenging and…familiar. She felt her heart sink. Could Chance be her dream abductor?

  He had no reason to do any of what the dream foresaw. Except, of course, if his Satanism drove him to it…but that wasn’t likely, she hoped. She sat up off of her desk and gave one last defiant glance at Chance. He shrugged at her and blinked once before his gaze flicked away. She turned from him, back toward the front of the room.

  LUNA’S MIND WELLED with thoughts as she walked home. She considered how cold and malicious Chance’s eyes had seemed when he had looked at her. It was the same bitter look he had on the night he killed that bird and the two times he had been angry at her. Luna would bet a good chunk of money that he wore the same look when he attacked Susan too—a cold expression that carried no remorse, as if his face were made of stone.

  She frowned, unsure why she still thought about him. He occupied her mind constantly, even though she hated him. She wondered about Violet’s doubts. Why was she making such a fuss over a dream? It couldn’t hurt her. She sighed, but no matter how many times she ran that thought through her head, she couldn’t make herself believe it. She studied her wrists again in the sunlight and knew that they were proof the dream could hurt her.

  Was it a dream? Or something more, like an out of body experience? She didn’t notice the sound of a second pair of footsteps join in with hers until a few minutes later.