MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) Read Free

from the corner
towards me. Freezing, I want to scream, but I can’t make my mouth move. His
shadowed figure stops at the foot of my bed, and I watch in horror as black
wings bud from each side of his shoulders. I can’t see his face. My head sinks
further into the pillow as I try to escape in vain. I can’t close my eyes. My
entire body ’s paralyzed with the
creature’s menacing presence. His left wing twitches as he cocks his head to
the side, watching me. His wings rise and fall in unison with a gentle beat,
lifting him in the air. He hovers for a moment. Then, leaning in, his wings
propel him forward to hover above me. His eyes glow red with flames. I close my
eyes, wishing myself to wake up. When I open them again, the creature dives at
me with an unnatural overextending mouth in an ear-piercing scream. Just as I
think he's going to consume me whole, everything goes dark.
    I wake with a start,
screaming at the top of my lungs. I'm out of breath, sweating, and my heart is
pounding. I never get use d to that. I started dreaming of what
I call ‘the darkness’ almost four years ago. This was the fourth time since I
had moved to Red Meadow that I had the dream again. Shaking the dream from my
head and smoothing my hair back, I glance at my alarm clock on the nightstand
beside my bed. 10:00 AM . Hell. I plop back on my pillow and try
to regulate my breathing by considering plans for the day. I decided to take a
shower and take my time getting dressed. It’s not as if I have anywhere to
be today. I have nothing pressing on my schedule, apart from finishing my
Music History paper and working on some new material to present to The Red .
    Alice emerges from her
room, primped, clean, and ready for the day. The light shining through the
patio windows into the living room give her an aura
of golden glitter. She's full of energy and practically bouncing from foot to
foot. “Hey. I’m starving. You want to get lunch?” She's a morning person, and
I've come to expect her extreme hyperactivity when she wakes .
    “Sure,” I mumble, closing
my laptop. I have the munchies from my wake and bake and am not about to pass
up food. “I still have to finish my paper though. Can we just go to the coffee
shop down the street?” I request, setting my laptop on the coffee table in
front of my seat on our comfortable red couch.
    “That's fine. Want to walk?
I need some fresh air,” she suggests, twisting her extensive mane into a bun on
the crown of her head.
    “Yeah. Let me grab my
wallet.” I welcome the four blocks of fresh air to clear my head. Maybe I’ll
go for a run later.
    The coffee shop is filled
with Red Meadow faux hipsters who are there to see and be seen. It's not my cup
of tea, but it's close to the house and has coffee. The baristas are more
concerned about their ironic t-shirts, their vague tattoos referencing music,
and colorful bandanas, than serving a genuine cup of coffee. Because it's
located on the corner of Red Meadow University, the primary clientele consists
of college students. They come to hang out, study, read, or just escape to a
comfortable place.
    After ordering our
overpriced coffees, sandwiches, and fruit bowls, we evade the indoor crowd and
opt for the patio out back. The majority of patrons are young women in small
groups. I observe a few sleeping and lounging, propping their elbows with
indifference, or with their feet on the tables. We place our food down on an
empty round green metal table and sit in its matching chairs. Overlooking the
large yard which houses a gazebo stage for open mic nights, I can’t help but
compare the surroundings to a n outdated junk yard.
The décor ranges from colorful flyers to antique junk lining the tall, wooden
fence enclosing the back patio. The vibe's a hybrid of
vintage-modern-hipster-chic.
    The air's hot and humid,
and my thighs are sweating, making them stick to the metal deck chair. I
appreciate the frozen coffee cooling me down. Alice starts texting on