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Post by Rex Greene on Mar 24, 2010 15:36:48 GMT -5
Rex sat in his bedroom, impatiently drumming his fingers. The air conditioner buzzed like an annoying fly hovering just out of reach, irritating him. Human inventions were so clever and so annoying. The days seemed to last too long lately, and the nights were by far too short.
Rex knew it was stupid to want midnight to come. The Darklings had started coming back. No, that wasn't quite it, his Darkling side argued. It wasn't that they were coming back to Bixby, it was that the others, frozen underground for so long in other parts of the world, had discovered the small Oklahoma town where Midnight was stronger than anywhere else, even now. The Secret Hour wasn't quiet anymore.
Rex didn't need a clock; he knew how far away midnight was, as easily as he smelled fear in his classmates at school. It was eleven forty-five. Midnight couldn't come soon enough.
The time seemed to drag on until Blue Time arrived. Rex could hear his father's television, the clever little human box that came close to driving him insane, amplified by his Darkling hearing.
Finally, he smiled as the world was thrust into Blue Time once more. He stood up and walked out his door, through the living room, his father frozen on the couch, and out the front door. The world was tinted blue, just the way he liked it best.
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Post by Hermia Blumstein on Mar 26, 2010 18:48:41 GMT -5
Hermia crept out the window of her house in Jenks with a determined expression. This was the third time she had gone looking for answers. She had seen a few snakes, but they hadn't bothered her. She hated that the frozen hour had followed her to Jenks. She had hoped to leave it behind in Houston, Texas.
Hermia's instincts directed her toward Bixby, where she hadn't searched before, and riding her bike, she was there in no time, her glasses tucked into the pocket of her pajama pants since she didn't need them during the frozen hour. She wanted to have them handy in case normal time snuck up on her.
As she rode her bike around Bixby, searching for anyone who might be awake, like she was, Hermia's eyes were drawn toward the dark moon. She shuddered at its weirdness, but there was something about it that also seemed a little inviting, special, intended for Hermia's eyes alone.
Or not, she thought as she spotted a dark-haired boy standing on the front porch of a run-down house. He definitely wasn't frozen. Hermia was relieved that there was, in fact, another human in this strange world, but part of her was also annoyed. It wasn't hers any more. It wasn't special.
She parked the bike on the curb, wondering if the boy had spotted her. She shyly approached. "Hello," she said. "I'm Hermia. Is this real?"
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Post by Rex Greene on Mar 27, 2010 13:08:08 GMT -5
Rex was surprised to see the girl, apparently another midnighter. He knew that a few more had moved into town, and many had been woken up around the world, but it still always surprised him that there were now others. He stared at her for a moment and then replied. "Yes, it's real. It's midnight. It's the Secret Hour."
He stared at her for a moment and then said, "Hermia? I'm Rex. I know this is going to sound like a weird question, but what time of day were you born?" Of course, she might not know, but he had to check. There was always the possibility she was another Cassie Flinders, a Daylighter who wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time. He had to be sure.
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Post by Hermia Blumstein on Mar 28, 2010 18:35:16 GMT -5
"Midnight," she replied, staring at Rex. "My parents always joked that I was cursed or something. Why does it matter?" She thougth this boy was the creepiest she had ever met. Something about him just sent a shiver down her spine. Definitely a weirdo.
"What is this place?" she asked, trying to remember what he called it. "Why are my parents frozen? What are the snake things, watching us? It's been like this for about a year now, always in the middle of the night, and I think I'm going crazy! She felt embarassed that she had just admited she might be insane, but if this was a dream, it didn't matter. And otherwise, he was here, too, not frozen like her parents were, like everything and everyone was in this strange world.
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Post by Rex Greene on Mar 30, 2010 12:42:13 GMT -5
Rex smiled, remembering his own first experiences in the Secret Hour. "You're not going crazy," he said. "And being born at midnight is not a curse. It's a gift. A whole extra hour just for us." He hesitated, unsure just how to explain all this. "A long time ago, before the Daylighters' recorded history begins, there were monsters, and the day lasted 25 hours. Humans began to hunt the monsters, so they retreated into the Secret Hour. It used to only be in Bixby, as far as we knew, but last Halloween, it spread out all over the world. The only people who aren't frozen are the ones who were born at midnight."
Rex found himself wondering what Hermia's talent was. Clearly not a mindcaster or acrobat. He didn't dare to hope for another flamebringer. A polymath, perhaps? Or maybe a seer? He wanted it desperately, but he reminded himself how unlikely it was.
He walked toward the girl, placing his hand on her shoulder. Looking into her eyes, he asked, "Is there anything you can do? Maybe just at midnight, or maybe during the day, too? Anything that daylighters would think was strange?"
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Post by Hermia Blumstein on Apr 7, 2010 15:52:43 GMT -5
"Well," she hesitated, still worried he would think she was crazy. "It's kind of weird. I wear glasses in the daytime." She pulled them out of her pocket and showed him. "But during this blue hour, I don't need them. And some things I can see without them. It's weird. It's not that special really."
She frowned, not sure if she had made any sense. She didn't want this boy to think she was strange. Then she reminded herself that he was probably weirder than she could ever be.
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