The Moon, chapter 1: Dream

“This isn't normal. It's too much. That was so cool, I want to go back, I need to go back. I can't wait until tomorrow. I don't know if I want to leave when I go back.”

Susie hasn't been able to rest since she got home. Wide awake, tossing and turning in her bed, she had tried every mental trick she knows to stop thinking about the closet. The experiences she'd had, the people she met, how much it changed her. It was overwhelming her to the point where she could no longer sleep. Even though she'd basically helped save an entire kingdom, she didn't feel the least bit exhausted. And Kris... Kris was still that quiet kid that she'd known and hated since forever. But after all that happened, she was coming around on him. Maybe quiet people aren't so bad after all.

Not as if that revelation would ease her mind. She still couldn't sleep. At least being about a mile off from town meant it was completely silent, besides the sounds of the forest creeping in through her room's open window, next to her bed.

Maybe that's it.

Susie sat up in her bed and grabbed a hold of the window pane, sliding it to the right and closing it, locking it as well. Maybe a lock on a second story window was a bit overkill, but who knows what's out there. The room, now completely silent besides Susie's slightly frustrated breaths, and only dimly illuminated by the pale moonlight outside, felt just a little more calm than before. She sighs, trying once more to fall into the slumber she so desperately needed. And, for a short while, her feeble attempts at accomplishing this paid off. She felt her eyes grow weary, almost forcing themselves closed. The last thing she sees before her mind shuts down is the soft light of the moon illuminating the door to the rest of her house.

Her dream is one full of darkness. Darkness and screams. Screams of terror. Screams of Kris, Noelle, and the rest of the townsfolk. Such unbearably deafening wails, yet nothing but darkness surrounds her. It feels like she's falling.

She shoots up to a sitting position, gasping at the air for a few seconds before calming herself down. Susie felt so out of breath that it's almost as if she was just being choked. She doesn't even remember the last time she had a nightmare like that. Maybe closing that window wasn't a good idea after all. To remedy this, she decides that maybe it's best to take a walk. To anyone else it'd probably be seen as unusual to take a walk this late at night, but it's not like she cared about what anyone thought before. Why start now? She hops off of her bed, already dressed in her normal attire. Ripped jeans, white and blue shirt, the usual. Her jacket was laying on top of  a pile of dirty clothes on the floor, which she grabs and dresses in on her way out the door, closing it firmly behind her.

Living alone had it's benefits. Not having to deal with anyone else's garbage was her favorite. Sure, she left messes around the house all the time, who would be anywhere near it and care? But it was her mess. She owned it. It was hers. There wasn't even any loneliness until tonight. Until she began to miss the happiness she felt with Kris and Ralsei. Even though she'd never fully admit it, she felt a sense of home and belonging that she's sorely missed for a long time. Maybe even her whole life.

Susie walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. Well, what passed as one anyway. They cut off the utilities to this place a long time ago, before she even took residence in it. Who knows who it belonged to before, but it was hers now, and she doubted the previous owner would care. It didn't bother her too much that she was basically as homeless as one could get while still having a house to come back to. Finding food was never an issue, since “food” was whatever fit in her mouth and wouldn't break her teeth. Speaking of food, she walked over to the clean, but powerless fridge, and opened it.

Chalk. A box of it, stolen from Alphy's classroom. At least fifteen sticks of it. She began to feel a little guilty about that.
Not enough to keep her from eating what she had, though. With the box tucked into her pocket, she left the house through the front door, slamming it shut behind her as she began to walk down the narrow forest path that led to her home. It was an oddly quiet night out. Before she slept and had that nightmare, the forest was about as lively as normal, but now the only sound seemed to be coming from her own footsteps crunching the leaves underneath her feet. The autumn trees surrounding the path were so thick that even in the autumn, when all the leaves had fallen to the ground, the moon's light still had trouble reaching the path. It left the narrow trail feeling claustrophobic and dark, but Susie had confidence that she could take whatever would try to attack her, or at least have the agility to outrun it if the situation looked bleak.

No such attacks have happened though, so she wasn't too worried they'd suddenly start now. She used to keep wood cutting ax whenever she'd walk the path on her way to school just in case, but she soon realized as much as she disliked the place before, she would probably still need school, and having someone find an ax in your locker probably wouldn't look too good.

The path eventually made it's end as it was intersected by the road that leads into town. This felt as good of a turning point as any on a normal walk, but maybe something in town could soothe her nerves more. Maybe a trip to the diner? Is it even open at this hour? Only one way to find out. The trip to town was uneventful as ever. Considering the road is blocked off right at the edge of it, and has been for quite a while, there wasn't even the company of passing traffic to liven things up. Just the forest on either side. The dead silent forest.

Susie grunted as she climbed over the barriers, and into the town proper. It was more like a village in size, but that only meant she could memorize the way to places easier. Orange lights shone brightly from the diner a block away. Perfect, it's still open. Susie's walk soon turns into a light sprint to the diner, and she's only a few steps away when she sees the lights shut off, and soon after a purple rabbit steps out onto the pavement, locking the door behind her. Susie's sprint slowly stops, panting slightly.
“You have to be kidding me...” She says in an exhausted voice.
“Sorry, Susie. You were just a little too late. What in the world are you doing up this late anyway?”
“Uhh, I actually don't know what time it is. I don't really have a clock or watch or anything.”
“It's midnight, hun.”
Susie replies with a blank expression, followed by her rubbing her eyes.
“Of course.”
“You still didn't answer my question, dear.”
“...Which? Oh, right. I had a weird dream and felt a little closed in, so I came here hoping I could have a drink or something. Maybe get my mind off things.”
The bartender looks at her with a look of understanding, and places a hand on Susie's shoulder.
“Tell ya what. I'll unlock the door and turn the lights back on, then make us some hot chocolate.”

This lady, though she'd only met her on a few occasions, would never seem afraid of her like everyone else. She seemed like she knew her. Part of Susie didn't like the fact that she could seemingly be read like a book by her, but it was nice to have someone not be terrified of her.
“You... You'd do that?”
The rabbit giggles softly.
“You say that like I just gave you a million dollars, dear! Come on, it's no big deal. Besides, you clearly need someone to t-”
“I don't need you to be a therapist or anything.”
“That's fine. You can come in, and we can just drink. You don't even need to talk.”
Susie pauses for a couple seconds, before sighing.
“Yeah, alright.”
“Good.”, she replies, unlocking the door to the diner.
“Hey. I didn't catch your name.”
“Call me Hazel. Now come on in, It'll be a few before the water boils but it shouldn't take too long.”
“...Thanks.”
Hazel replied with nothing more but a nod of acknowledgment. With that final word, and the unlocking of the door, the two monsters let themselves in.