He woke up to the sound of an alarm coming from his phone. He peeked at the wall clock and saw that it was just three in the morning. Annoyed and confused, he sat up and grabbed his phone from the bedside table to check what the alarm was about.
“Do not look at the moon,” said an officially-looking alert that popped up before he could even unlock his phone. He grew even more confused and turned around, hoping to talk to his wife about it.
“Hey, hon,” he began, stopping short; the other side of the bed was empty. He looked around and saw his wife by the window, staring outside. Before he could say anything else, his phone was bombarded with notifications. Hundreds of unknown numbers messaged him the same thing over and over again: “It’s a beautiful night tonight. Look outside.”
“Hon?” he called again, growing weary. She continued to stare outside, hair cascading down her back, skin glowing from the moon’s eerie light.
“Join me, Arthur,” she said, her voice a wonderful melody. But, something was off, he realized. She never called him by his real name.
“Anna?” he called gingerly. She slowly turned to look at him just as his phone vibrated violently and another warning popped up.
“Do not look at anyone who has seen the moon.”
He could feel her gaze on him but he didn’t dare look up.
“What’s the matter, Arthur? Look at me,” she crooned, sending goosebumps all over his body.
“IT HAS TAKEN HER. DO NOT LOOK AT HER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.”
He felt her sit beside him, an inexplicable cold emanating from her body. He shut his eyes tightly as his phone vibrated again and again and again, bringing forth news that even more strangers have messaged him to look outside.
She touched his face, caressing lightly; slowly. He shivered at her touch, feeling as though all the warmth and happiness was being sucked away from him. She stopped at his eyelids, causing him to panic.
“Wake up, sweetheart,” she cooed into his ear before forcing his eyelids open. He fought it, straining to keep his eyes closed, realizing he couldn’t move his body.
Just when he thought his eyelids were going to give, he felt her move away. He felt himself gain control over his body once more. But still, he kept his eyes closed.
Suddenly, a bright light pierced through his eyelids. To him, it was as if they weren’t even closed. He heard an inhuman shriek, followed by multiple others, up until he could no longer hear anything else. He felt his ears bleed and he yelled in pain, covering them with his hands which proved to be no use.
But, a moment later, the brightness and the shrieks ended just as fast as they’d begun. He cried in relief, slowly removing his hands from his ears. He opened his eyes a crack and saw nothing out of the ordinary. His phone vibrated again and another pop-up showed onscreen.
“It is finished.”
He opened his eyes fully and looked around. His wife was nowhere to be found but, right where she should have been moments ago was a small, white rose. He got out of bed to pick it up, tears forming in his eyes.
Even though he didn’t understand what had just taken place, he knew it in his heart that this white rose is what’s left of his wife. He held it close and fell to his knees crying, as the moonlight slowly dimmed, shrouding the world in darkness and mystery.
drones and lilies ; 