When Ava Scott's life changed, she wished it would have been turned upside down in one of the most dramatic fashions. She supposed, to some degree, it had, but not in the way that she had imagined that it would. In fact, she wished it so much that she had an idea of exactly how she believed it should have happened.

The vision of the fated night that sent her into a spiral would occur like this: it would be late in the night, just as it happened the first time. However, instead of sitting bored at her window, listening to the gentle breeze, the sky outside would have been dark with black clouds full of torrential rain, threatening to take out the windowpanes. Thunder would rumble through the sky, lightning flashing and casting the world into blinding white light as it struck. The trees would rattle and shake with the violent wind, the leaves being thrown off their branches fast as whips. The silvery white moon would be completely obscured from her vision, and as the night progressed, the weather would get worse. She would experience the very fear that she should have known she should have had.

Each time Ava would remember that night, imagining the way she wanted things to go, a hum of satisfaction and an almost longing would burn in her throat. As far as she was concerned, anything – absolutely anything – would have been better than what she had experienced.

Instead, the night had been calm. The breeze was light enough for her to open her windows and allow her to sit on the edge of her bed, watching the world outside. The full moon was bright, hanging high in the sky as the night grew later and later, creeping steadily toward the morning. It was serene, uncomplicated, normal – just how she liked things.

One of the things that still stuck with Ava even now, well after the fact, was that the night was too still, despite the breeze. There was no chattering of creatures from the nearby woods surrounding her home. The usual sound of crickets or of any sort of insect really had made itself known. She could hear the faint sound of the waves rolling in from the bay around the corner, but even the bay breezes didn't carry along the wind the same as it usually did.

Perhaps even the wildlife and nature knew what would transpire that night, even if Ava didn't.

Ava could also recall one of the stupidest thoughts that had ever crossed her mind, and she swore it was the reason she found herself in the predicament that she did. As she sat at her window, half-reading the book in her hand, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to visit the moon. Even as a very young girl, she had always felt the moon's pull, a sense of longing that stayed with her for as long as she could remember. She could recall many nights spent just like this, near her window, just wondering what it would be like to see it up close. She just didn't know what sort of horrors would await her when the moment she could see the moon, truly see the moon, arrived.

The shimmering figure that caught Ava's eye on the horizon had seemingly been a figment of her imagination. A glance at the clock showed that it was nearly 3 in the morning and well past the time she typically went to sleep. She rubbed her eyes hard, unaware that the shimmering figure was heading her way, drifting in and out of sight like fog rolling in from the ocean.

It wasn't out of the norm to have faint patches of fog rolling in, disappearing and reappearing as it touched whatever it needed to in the air to make itself be seen. So, when Ava spotted the strange figure heading her way, she thought nothing of it. Nothing felt entirely out of sorts. At least, not yet.

After being distracted for hours, Ava finally found herself back in her book. She was reading a particularly riveting romantic passage between the main female character and who was arguably her nemesis – she loved a good enemies-to-lovers trope – but something made her stop. It was the first time that night that she realized how strange things felt and she felt the hair on the back of her neck raise, and she shivered, goose bumps covering her skin. At first, Ava thought it was from the breeze, but the wind had stopped entirely.

She very slowly closed her book, set it on her bed, and looked back outside. Ava saw nothing for a few moments but then let out a shriek, dropping to her floor when she noticed that something – or someone – was staring at her from her front yard.

"I know you're up there," a voice called out, sounding somehow faint and ethereal all at the same time while sounding like it was right next to her. "There's no point in trying to hide from me Ava."

"What the fu..." Ava hissed to herself, her words trailing off as quickly as they came. She remained where she was on the floor next to her bed, shaking. Who was outside, and how did they know her name?

"Come, Ava," the voice called out once more. A woman's voice? Ava wasn't sure because she hadn't been able to really see the person waiting for her. "I don't have all night. I need to speak to you."

Ava questioned whether or not she should try to call the police. She reached her hand up to feel around her mattress and groaned when she couldn't find her phone. Thinking she should maybe take a look at the person outside so that she knew what to even say, Ava forced herself up on her knees so that she could peer just over the edge of her windowsill to look outside.

Her brows knit together when she found no one was there, though she couldn't help but feel that whoever was there hadn't left. Ava's suspicions were confirmed when she heard the voice once more, and she let out another shriek, falling backward onto her floor.

"You will not see me until you come down," the voice called out. "Now come, Ava. I will explain everything when you come to speak to me. And do not bother trying to call the authorities. They will not see me. Only you. Do not make me bring you down myself."

Ava had no idea how this person planned to make her go downstairs and let out another groan. Was it truly possible that if she called the police they wouldn't see whoever was there? She remained precisely where she was on her floor, having no idea what to do. Should she still call anyway? Was it worth calling? Should she just close her window, close the blinds, and just go to bed and pretend nothing was happening? Of all the possibilities Ava had in her mind, getting up and heading downstairs was not what she had planned to do, but yet there she was, slowly pulling herself up off the floor, walking downstairs, and standing in front of her door.

Against all better judgment and as if she had no control of herself, Ava opened the door. It was only when she did so that she realized she had nothing to defend herself if she needed to. But there was nothing there when Ava opened the door.

"You made me force you down here instead."

Ava let out another shriek at the voice that came from behind her. She whirled around and then immediately froze, startled by what she was looking at.

The person or entity, whatever it was, Ava still wasn't sure, was beautiful, though not entirely solid. The thing in front of her was tall and appeared feminine, though it was hard for her to tell. Whatever they were, they had long silvery hair that reached their waist. Their skin was as pale as the moonlight outside, and their eyes were a light grey. Much like the rest of them, their clothing was equally as pale, though had a somewhat lavender hue. They wore a long-sleeved shirt that Ava would have thought was a dress if it didn't stop mid-thigh and wore flowing pants with boots.

"I didn't make you do anything," Ava finally managed to stammer.

"You did. I told you that I would make you come down if you weren't going to do it yourself. Clearly you're not very good at listening."

Ava frowned, looking over her shoulder at her still open doorway and back at the mysterious figure. She wanted to refute the claim that she had been forced downstairs against her will but had another much more important question.

"How did you even get in my house when I just opened the door?"

In answer, the figure looked over at where the moonlight was filtering into the darkened room from outside. Ava blinked, and the figure that had been in front of her had moved to her left near the window.

"How did you do that?" Ava yelled. "Who are you?"

The figure smiled, tilting their head ever so slightly. "The question isn't who, although I suppose that still applies," the figure said with a slight laugh as they brushed the curtain aside to look outside. "The real question is what am I?"

"I'm not here to play games," Ava huffed. "But fine – what are you?"

"I am Celeana," the figure said, lifting their chin towards the full moon outside. "I'm the very moon that you've watched your entire life. And I am very sorry for what is about to happen next."