Chapter Seven: Waiting Games
As December came to a close and the new year began, Luna felt some kind of change occurring within her.
She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she had been feeling rather… different… lately. Of course, she was still getting used to the constant elation and excitement that came with confirming the existence of magic, and also of having a new friend. She did, at times, feel a bit sad that she could not share her friendship with Jack with her friends from school, or even her own mother and sister. She didn't like the feeling of being asked, "Where were you all afternoon?" or "What did you do this weekend?" and having to make up a lie about studying at the library or visiting her aunt's house or some other generic excuse. She felt dishonest, but she knew there was no way for her to tell the others about all of the wonderful experiences she had been having recently.
However, none of these were what was causing this change she was feeling so prominently. She wondered if, maybe, she was beginning to grow up a bit. She was sixteen now, after all. It was bound to happen eventually. But that did not quell the ache she got in her stomach when she thought of herself as a grown woman… Would Jack still be her friend when she was thirty? Or would he get bored with an adult and leave her behind? Would she change so much in adulthood that she might forget or stop believing?
No, she thought. That isn't it, either. She resolved to ignore the feeling completely. It would pass eventually… probably.
She decided to instead focus on things that made her feel happier and more at ease. She had plans to go to the town square with Jack that night so he could introduce her to the Sandman, and watch him make his nightly rounds throughout the town - she didn't want to be in a bad mood for that. With Phoebe laying across her lap in bed, she called up Lisa and Gerard to see how their holidays had been, and to make plans to see a movie together before school was back in session. When she was done talking on the phone, she grabbed her trusty old Scrabble board and made her way down to Angie's room, Phoebe following closely behind. She knocked lightly on the white-painted door.
"Come in," her older sister called. Luna opened the door to find Angie laying on her back atop her bed, her head dangling upside-down off the edge so as to watch a movie on the television that sat upon her dresser. "I'm boooooored."
"Well, you're in luck," Luna said as she bent over to see her sister's face rightside-up, her long hair touching the carpet as she did so. "Look what I brought," she said in a sing-song voice, holding up the game board.
"Go set it up, dorkus," Angie said. "I'll be down when I can't take the bloodflow in my forehead anymore." Luna looked down to Phoebe and jerked her head toward Angie. The dog quickly jumped up onto the bed and plopped down heavily on Angie's torso, causing her to let out a loud ooof! "Okay, okay, I'm coming! Get her off!"
Luna called for Phoebe to come with her, and the three of them went downstairs together. Luna carried the Scrabble board to the dining table and began to set up the game. Angie grabbed a container of cut pineapple out of the refrigerator, then joined her sister at the table.
Now, Scrabble was kind of a big deal in the Nightingale household. They always played as competitively as possible, and they even kept a dictionary on the shelf near the table so they could easily challenge any suspicious words. And they played strictly by the rule that any word that could not be found in that specific dictionary could not be played. If one of them challenged the other's word and it proved invalid, the offender received no points for that round. It was accepted that cheating was part of the game – if you could lie and get away with it without being challenged, the points were valid. It was cutthroat, to say the least.
"'Hornswaggle' is not a word!" Angie yelled across the table at her sister.
"It is, too!" Luna countered. "It means "to trick or deceive!'"
"Sounds like something you'd say if you wanted to trick or deceive someone in order to cheat at Scrabble!"
"Are you going to challenge it?" Luna asked, crossing her arms. Angie stared at the board, thinking intently. She pursed her lips, then looked at Luna through narrowed eyes.
"No," she said, though still not entirely convinced. She evaluated her letters, then played the word 'yellow.' "You're up."
"I lied," Luna said with a deviant smile on her face.
"I KNEW IT!" Angie shouted, standing up to point accusingly at Luna, who continued to smile.
"The word is actually 'hornswoggle,' but I didn't have the 'o' to make it," Luna said, not trying to hide how pleased she was with herself.
"Oh, you little-"
"Hornswoggler?" Luna said as devilishly as possible. Angie sat down and glared at her sister with daggers in her eyes.
"Just play your next word."
…..
That night, after Luna had said good night to Angie and their mother, the youngest Nightingale went to her room to wait for her friend to come tapping on her window. Luna was very excited; she hadn't seen Jack since he left on Christmas morning. She couldn't wait to show him the gift that her mother had given her – a Polaroid camera. She waited patiently, making sure she had all of her winter clothes ready, as well as a little box of chocolate chip cookies for them to share.
Soon enough, she heard the familiar tap on the glass. She dashed over and opened the window.
"Hey! Long time, no see," Jack said as he stepped into the room.
"It's only been a few days," Luna said with a smile. "How was the rest of your Christmas and New Year?"
"Great! I got to play a few jokes on Bun-Bun, so that's always a good time. He deserved it, of course."
"I have a feeling he's not nearly as bad as you make him out to be," Luna smirked.
"You'll meet him someday, then you'll understand," Jack said. "He's just a grumpy kangaroo." Luna rolled her eyes at him.
"Hey, come look at what I've got here!" she said excitedly, pulling him by his sleeve over to her desk. She picked up the camera and showed it to him. "Isn't this cool? I've always wanted one of my own."
"Sweet!" Jack replied. "You could bring it with us tonight and snap some photos of Sandy."
"I'd love to! Could I get one of you?" she asked.
"Um… sure, I guess? I don't think I've ever had my picture taken."
"Just smile," said Luna, holding up the camera. Jack smiled, and she took the photo. Jack's heart dropped into his stomach for a moment as the little slip of paper popped out with no image on it. The thought hadn't occurred to him that perhaps he wouldn't show up on camera. "You just have to give it a minute," Luna said. "It'll show up soon." She sat the photo on her desk. "Cookie?" she asked, holding the box out to him. He pulled one out and began to munch on the sweet. He felt much better when, after a little waiting, his image appeared on the photo paper.
"That's so cool," Jack said as he finished his cookie. "Wanna get one of us together?"
"Sure!" Luna said. She held the camera out at arm's-length. Jack leaned in close to her, and they both smiled brightly at the lens. They waited for the picture to appear, then smiled at how good it looked.
"Well, we'd better get going. Don't want to miss him!" Jack said. With that, the two of them went out the window and were off into the night.
…..
The two friends landed on the roof of a building in the middle of town, finding a spot where they could sit on the edge to get a good view of the magic that was about to occur. They did not know, as they sat there munching cookies and pointing at the floating Dreamsand and taking photos, that they were being watched.
In the darkness of a nearby alley, the mysterious figure watched their every move through the broken, empty eyes of its mirror mask. It watched by the light of the Moon as they laughed. It watched as Jack snapped a photo of Luna standing atop the building with her hands toward the sky. And it watched as the Sandman floated down on his little cloud to tip his hat and shake Luna's hand.
It was waiting. Waiting until the two parted ways. Until Jack was alone. Then, it would make its move.
The figure became more and more impatient the longer they sat there together. It took a few steps closer, trying to hear what they were saying. But it had to quickly press itself against the wall and merge with the shadows, for the girl on the roof had seen it. As it looked at her from the shadows, the figure let out a small gasp.
That girl… it thought. Something was not right about her, the figure could tell. But what was it? It continued to watch as she said some unheard words to her friend, who then turned to look in the figure's direction. They both looked for a moment, then shrugged their shoulders, brushing it off as nothing.
Before long, the two friends began to prepare to leave. Jack hooked his arms under Luna's, his staff tucked neatly and securely under his arm. Then the hopped on the Wind together and began to fly off.
Follow them!
The voice in the figure's head shouted its demand. The figure did as it was told, moving soundlessly through the town, following the two in the sky. It trailed them all the way out of the main part of town to the house on the edge of the woods. It slithered across the shadows on the ground to the back of the house, coiling itself up a tree to see the two of them standing on a section of roof near an open, lit window. The figure could tell that Jack was about to leave, and its every nerve pounded with anticipation.
However, before it had the chance to strike, Jack and Luna's goodbye was interrupted by a curtain of colorful light that appeared in the sky above. Just then, a large hole began to open up in the ground below them. A huge yeti stuck his head out from the opening, then crawled out into the snow as the hole disappeared and a flower grew in its place. Jack and Luna went to the edge of the roof to see what was the matter. The yeti said something in its garbled language, and Jack turned to Luna. The figure could not hear anything that was said, but watched as Jack made sure his friend was safe inside her house with the window locked. He then hopped down off of the roof to join the yeti, who was holding a glass ball in his enormous hand. The yeti threw the ball to the ground, producing a portal. Jack followed the yeti through the magical transporter, and they both disappeared immediately.
No! screamed the voice. The figure flinched as the voice rang out in its head.
"What shall I do, Master?" the figure whispered. There was a long pause.
Take the girl instead.
*Many thanks to those who have faved, followed, and reviewed this story. You feedback is heavily anticipated and very much appreciated.*