MoonBound by Fate

1

My alarm had been ringing for so long that, even half-asleep, I was beginning to feel personally offended by it. I reached out from beneath the blanket, blindly searching for my phone, my fingers brushing the edge of the mattress before knocking something onto the floor. After several seconds of fumbling around, I finally found the device wedged beneath my pillow and slapped at the screen. I missed it the first time, cursed quietly, then tried again until the irritating sound finally stopped. The room fell silent, and I sighed with relief as I sank deeper into my pillow. Five more minutes. That was all I needed. Surely five more minutes couldn't hurt.

Then I remembered the meeting.

My eyes flew open. I grabbed my phone and stared at the screen, hoping I'd somehow read it wrong. 8:17 a.m. “Oh, shit.” I was supposed to be at the office before nine. Not walking through the front doors at nine. Before nine. My meeting with the regional director was scheduled for nine sharp, and I'd spent the entire week preparing for it. I'd gone through the presentation so many times that I could practically recite it in my sleep. I'd stayed awake until almost two in the morning checking figures, correcting the report and making sure there wasn't a single mistake anyone could use against me. And now I was still lying in bed wearing an old T-shirt with absolutely no idea where half my clothes were.

I threw the blanket aside and practically launched myself toward the bathroom. The next fifteen minutes became a complete disaster. I brushed my teeth while trying to decide what to do with my hair, nearly dropped my toothbrush when I realized the blouse I'd planned to wear was too wrinkled, and then discovered that the second blouse had a tiny coffee stain near the sleeve that I had absolutely no memory of creating. Eventually, I found something presentable enough to wear, only to realize I'd put one earring on and couldn't find the other. I searched the bathroom counter, the floor and the bedside table before finally giving up. I stared at myself in the mirror, one earring hanging from my left ear while the other remained missing somewhere in my apartment.

“You know what?” I muttered. “Uneven earrings are a fashion choice.”

For one strange second, I thought my reflection smiled.

I froze.

My stomach tightened as I stared at the woman in the mirror. She looked exactly like me: messy brown hair, tired eyes and a blouse I'd buttoned incorrectly the first time. Nothing was unusual about her. Nothing at all. I blinked, and the strange expression was gone. My reflection was perfectly still, staring back at me with the same exhausted expression I was wearing.

I swallowed.

“Definitely not enough sleep.”

I grabbed my handbag and hurried out of the bathroom, refusing to look at the mirror again.

My keys were missing.

Of course they were.

I searched the bedside table, the kitchen counter and the little bowl beside the door where I usually kept them. Nothing. I checked inside my handbag even though I knew perfectly well they weren't there, then checked the kitchen again because apparently panic had decided to take complete control of my brain. My phone buzzed while I was searching beneath a stack of unopened mail.

Maya: Please tell me you're already downstairs.

I quickly typed a response.

Me: Almost.

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

Maya: That's not an answer, Isla.

I smiled despite myself.

Me: I'm leaving now. Stop stressing.

Her reply came before I could put the phone away.

Maya: I'm not stressing. I'm preparing for your funeral.

I laughed under my breath. Maya had been my best friend for years, which meant she'd earned the right to insult me whenever I deserved it, and this morning I definitely deserved it. She'd been reminding me about the meeting all week, probably because she knew I had a habit of convincing myself that I could leave everything until the last possible minute and somehow get away with it.

I checked the kitchen one more time.

Nothing.

Then I noticed something beneath the dining table.

My keys.

“Seriously?”

I grabbed them and checked the time.

8:36.

I didn't even bother being angry. I'd already wasted enough time doing that. I shoved the keys into my bag, hurried downstairs and pushed through the front entrance, only to stop halfway across the lobby.

My wallet.

I stared at the ceiling.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

For several seconds, I considered leaving without it. Then common sense won, which was unfortunate because common sense required me to run back upstairs. By the time I finally stepped outside again, I had my wallet, keys, handbag and considerably less dignity than I'd started the morning with.

The city was already awake. Cars crawled along the road, horns sounded somewhere in the distance and people hurried past with coffee cups in their hands, all of them looking as though they had somewhere important to be. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and headed toward the main road, mentally calculating how much a taxi was going to cost me. I could still make it if I found one quickly. The traffic wasn't terrible yet, and the office wasn't too far away. For once, maybe the universe would decide to be kind.

My phone buzzed again.

Maya: Where are you?

Me: On my way.

Maya: You said that twenty minutes ago.

I smiled.

Me: Technically, I am still on my way.

There was a pause before another message appeared.

Maya: I hate you.

Me: Love you too.

I slipped my phone back into my handbag and raised my hand for a taxi. One passed without stopping. Another was already full. I stepped closer to the edge of the pavement and checked the time.

8:43.

“Please,” I muttered, watching another line of cars crawl past. “Just give me one thing today.”

A sudden gust of wind swept down the street.

I frowned.

The morning had been warm only seconds earlier, but the air around me had turned strangely cold. I rubbed my arms and glanced around, expecting to see dark clouds gathering overhead. The sky was clear.

Then I noticed the flowers.

A small flower shop stood across the street, its buckets of roses, lilies and daisies arranged along the pavement. I'd walked past the shop dozens of times without paying much attention to it, but something about it caught my eye now. The flowers were moving.

I stared.

There was no wind anymore.

Yet one of the white lilies slowly bent toward me.

Then another.

Then another.

My breath caught.

The flowers weren't moving randomly.

They were turning toward me.

A strange pressure gathered in my chest as I stepped backward. The lilies continued to sway gently, their pale petals opening wider as though they were reaching for something only they could see. I looked around quickly, expecting someone else to notice, but people continued walking past the shop without even glancing in its direction.

“No,” I whispered.

I looked away.

When I turned back, the flowers were perfectly still.

My heart was pounding.

I'd seen things like this before. Not often, and never when anyone else was around, but enough times that I had stopped believing they were simple coincidences. Flowers sometimes bloomed when I was emotional. Lights flickered whenever I became angry. Mirrors had whispered to me when I was alone at night, although I'd never been brave enough to admit that part to anyone. And lately, the dreams had become worse.

Glowing forests.

Silver moonlight filtering through enormous trees.

A strange warmth against my skin.

And something watching me from between the shadows.

Golden eyes.

Always those golden eyes.

I shook my head and forced myself to look away from the flower shop. Not now. I didn't have time to think about strange flowers or impossible dreams or whatever was wrong with me. I had a job, a meeting, bills and an entire ordinary life to worry about. Whatever was happening could wait until tonight.

A taxi finally slowed beside the pavement.

Relief washed through me.

I hurried toward it and opened the passenger door, but before getting inside, I felt it again.

That sensation.

Someone was watching me.

I slowly looked across the street.

People moved along the pavement. Cars passed between the buildings. Nothing appeared out of place. Then a black car rolled through the traffic, and for one brief second, its dark window reflected something that made my entire body go cold.

Golden eyes.

I blinked.

They were gone.

The car disappeared into traffic, leaving nothing behind except the fading sound of its engine.

I swallowed and climbed into the taxi.

Maybe I really did need more sleep.

Maybe I was imagining things.

Maybe there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything that had been happening lately.

I wanted to believe that.

I needed to believe that.