Web of Magic #2:
All that Glitters
Kara's eyes sprang open. It was pitch black. Her heart pounded. For a second she couldn't move, then she realized she was completely tangled in bed sheets. She wriggled and kicked them off, ripping her pink satin sleep mask from her eyes.
At first she thought that the cold had awakened her, since the hairs along her arms and the back of her neck were standing up. But the room was humid, too warm for comfort. Blearily, she pushed her hair out of her face and looked around.
Pale moonlight glazed the room, glowing softly through the curtains as they wavered in the breeze. The air-conditioning must have gone out, she thought, burrowing back into her pillow. But then there wouldn't be a breeze, would there? As her brain fought its way to sense, she sat up.
The far window was wide open.
Puzzled, Kara stumbled over to shut the window. Had she forgotten before? She'd been pretty tired ... She stopped short. The window screen was gone. She peered out into the darkness, but nothing moved, no sound broke the stillness. The screen must have fallen off somehow, she thought. Then she saw something on the ledge below her window: splotches of glowing, green muck, dripping into the gutter.
That's disgusting! How dare some big bird drop a surprise on their roof!
She closed the window with a bang and locked it. Shaken, she climbed back into bed, adjusted her sleep mask, and went back to sleep.
In the dark beyond the window two piercing green eyes stared back at her, then winked out.
