I sat on the beach watching the tide come in. The night was bright and it was a new moon. The waves were crashing loudly and the beach was deserted.
As I looked out into the open sea I could see a bright light glowing. I squinted my eyes and tried to focus. I could barely make it out but there was definitely someone out there.
I blinked and rubbed my eyes. It looked like they were walking on the water. As the figure got closer I heard a whisper in my head, "Stanton"
I quickly stood and looked around. The voice sounded strangely familiar. I knew I had heard it somewhere before.
I looked back out into the ocean. The figure was distinguishable now. It was a girl, with long flowing black hair. She was wearing a white robe that billowed in the wind.
I looked back behind me. It was eerily dark and empty. No one was there. I threw out my senses and still couldn't pick up on anything.
"It's me you dimwit." The voice said in my head again. I smiled slightly. Now I knew who it was, Melantha. I hadn't seen her for 3 months, not since the night she had died.
"Where are you?" I called out. I really did want to see her, I missed her playfulness.
"Where do you think? I'm the big billowing girl off into the distance. It's really hard getting a hold of your mind you know," she replied sarcastically.
I looked back out into the ocean and watched as the girl became clearer. It was Melantha. As I was about to take a step into the water she yelled, "Don't! You can't touch the water, you'll wake up! I have to warn you about-"
I didn't listen and took a step. The sky and water crashed around me and I awoke with a start.
Dim sunlight leaked into my room. I groggily sat up and scratched my head. I glanced at the clock and realized it was past noon.
This was the second time I had that dream. It was unusual for Followers to have dreams. It only made me wonder if it was real or not.
I could hear quiet murmurings coming from downstairs. I pulled on my pants and walked down there. Other people were there, ones I was not accustomed to seeing.
"It's nice of you to finally wake up Stanton," The cold voice said from the dark corner.
I squinted my eyes and saw her. It was Nokomis, once a daughter of the moon, but now a powerful Follower. She had her own pack that stayed in Oklahoma. She was far from her home.
"True, I wouldn't be here though if it wasn't for you," Nokomis said casually answering my thoughts.
"A hello would've been nice," I replied.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know whether I should bow or not." She snapped back.
We glared at each other and she let a sly smile cross her face. She flung her head to move the hair out of her eyes and stepped out of the corner.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as she stepped closer to me.
"Ah, the stars tell me something's brewing here. I came to see if you knew anything." Nokomis lifted her hands skyward with a shrug.
She did have a connection to the heavens at night. It wasn't with a goddess or anything purely good she just followed her family's old beliefs. They were outdated and forgotten now but she had been brought up believing those things and still did.
"I don't know of anything. There hasn't been anything going on in the Cincti lately actually. Everything has been fairly calm, you know ever since Mel-" I stopped and looked down. I still couldn't believe that she had really died.
"Since Melantha died, eh? So you miss your precious fiancé?" Nokomis said quietly as she stepped closer to me. She put her hands on my chest and let them rest there.
I glared at her and pushed her hands away from me, "You always were such a minx."
Nokomis pretended to frown and backed away, "I wasn't talking about the Cincti anyways dear boy. Something's coming that even the precious Atrox can not control."
I glanced at her and entered her mind quickly. She smirked when I entered and showed me what she had seen. It wasn't much really, just a few stars aligning and some stars disappearing.
"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked her suspiciously as I left her mind.
"I would expect you of all people to believe. You came from a time more ancient than mine," Nokomis replied sarcastically.
"Well?" I asked impatiently. I didn't have any more time to waste with this.
"Alright, to tell you the truth I don't know. I just don't like the warnings. Something dark is coming, something no one will have control of," Nokomis said solemnly and looked away at the ground. Her other groupies hushed their talking and quietly listened.
"I saw the Ask-wee-da-eed, the bringer of death and bad luck." Nokomis paused as a few from her group gasped.
"What's that? I mean I've never heard of the Askwedaed," I replied trying to unsuccessfully pronounce it.
"Ask-wee-da-eed. It's from Abenaki legends, my grandmother once spoke of it saying it was a part of my long ago history. You know, we were mainly a mixed tribe, but our roots, she said, started with the Abenaki," Nokomis stated with a far away look in her eyes.
"It was said that the Ask-wee-da-eed forewarns death and bad luck. Like I said. Anyways I remember stories my grandma would say of the Apotamkin. He would be like," She paused and looked thoughtful, "He's like the boogey-man. He was said to haunt the woods at night and eat little children if they ever went into the woods without their elders."
I tried to stifle a laugh. Nokomis always did drag on with her stories. If you let her she could tell you many interesting ones. She had been long enough to learn them all.
"Noki," I said soothingly as I used her nickname, "What is your point? I don't have all day to listen to ghost stories."
She came out of her reverie and glared at me, "Well, my point being is Apotamkin was real. He wasn't just a myth. He'd come out every hundred years and feed on the kids who did go off alone into the woods. I think he may be rising. If my calculations are right this should be the hundredth year."
"I still don't understand where you are heading with this," I said impatiently.
"I just thought I'd warn you. Oh and usually when he comes out so do the Keres. Or so I've heard. Trouble is stirring and things are beginning to rise. I believe they're coming to show this new world what fear really is," She replied darkly.
"The Keres are from a different culture, why would they tie into Apotamkin?" I asked curiously.
"Well Apotamkin has survived through many cultures, I just couldn't remember his name in Greek." Nokomis suddenly looked down at her digital watch.
"I better get going. My gang wants to see the sites before we head out tomorrow. See you around tough guy," Nokomis said with a smile and lightly punched my arm.
Before she left she turned and looked at me one last minute and let her eyes linger at my chest. I suddenly realized I was without a shirt. She licked her lips playfully and finally exited the squat.