Starstuff And Shimmer

Marie woke up and looked around her white washed room. It had been days since she last had her star dream and she couldn't tell if she felt sad or relieved... or maybe, lonely? Yes that was the feeling but why feel lonely it wasn't as if the dreams were a person or a pet dog or something bu- " oh... the stars... I miss the stars." Marie sighed and flexed her hand wishing that she could feel the warm, soft movement of one.
She put her fist to her chest and slipped out of bed. She walked out into her small kitchen and grabbed at her small frying pan with a swiftness. She left the frying pan on the oven and grabbed a bowl,spoon and egg. she whisked the egg then poured the egg into the pan and turned it on. She lazily moved around the egg to scramble it and after it was done she swept it onto small plate and left the dishes in the sink for later. Grabbing a fork she sat down at her small table and looked out the large window that spanned across most of her one wall.
It gave a clear view of many a dirty looking building both tall and medium but none of them any shorter than 4 stories. Marie put her chin on her palm and finished off the small egg that she thought tasted quite bland and unsatisfying. She set the dirty dish in the sink and ,not caring enough to wash it, left the kitchen to sit on the couch.
Usually she turned on her music and felt nice in the mornings... But then usually she had her star dream. her heart ached when she thought of all those lovely stars sitting in the sky twinkling happily at her. She flumped onto her side and wrapped her arms around her. Even though she had slept through the night she felt dead tired and her mind too groggy to think. "thank god it's summer." she thought thinking about how those mornings after the dream had been a breeze but without the dream, well, it just didn't go very well.
Her head flashed through random memories of stars and she felt herself slipping off into her own dreamscape when a large violent knock came at the door. Marie sat bolt upright feeling quite annoyed but at the same time curious. No one knocked so violently. it only took a small knock to be heard through the whole clean, little apartment. Anyone who came knocking at her door knew that so who was this?
The knock came again, no, no not a knock a kick! someone was kicking her door instead of knocking. Marie got up and scampered to the door. she looked through the peephole but all she saw was black. Someone was blocking the peephole! "did i make someone mad?" she thought searching her memory. "did i make someone so mad they would kick at my door and block the peephole so i couldn't see their face?... No, no one i barely talk to people."
She tried to carefully just crack the door open. That plan failed instantly. She had the chain locking the door but the door blew open with such a force that the chain came away as if it were made of cheap plastic.
Marie had been blown back by the force of it and sat, propped up on her elbows staring up at a man. "Oh crap." Marie thought staring up at his face. " Is he going to kill me? he certainly could he broke down the door and he doesn't even look super buff." but he didn't pull out a knife or a gun. Instead he flew to the door and closed it. Then turned back to her. she watched as he got closer. then he said very clearly and seriously "Where are you're stars?"

Marie stared at him. Really stared at him. What did he mean stars? did he mean my dream stars? how could he know about those? "Y-you mean the stars in my dreams?" she stammered not really wanting to anger him.But he didn't get angry his face just dropped to a look like 'you have got to be kidding me' "dreams?" he said disbelievingly "You said dreams not messages so no one has spoken to you in these dreams?"
Marie's eyes widened and she tried to stand up. She couldn't though her foot slipped out from under her and instead she half crawled half slithered back about a foot and a half. "talked to me?" she asked feeling a bit scared of him again. "who would talk to me its a dream... a nice dream sure but just a dream that's it." he rubbed his face with a large hand. he stayed quiet and Marie took the moment to study him.
Not in a creepy way but instead looking for weaknesses... She didn't see any. What she did see was almost exactly the opposite.
He had fairly high cheek bones but they weren't notably high unless you were looking for that. the rest of his face was fairly narrow but it wasn't a long face just a narrow one. He had dark brown eyes so dark that they could have been thought of as black. he had fairly pale skin and was wearing a black shirt that set off both his pale skin and dark eyes in a heavy, contrasting way. his shirt was wide collared and showed a bit of his collarbones. at first this looked like a weakness but then you thought about the fact that if he was breaking into houses not caring enough to wear at least a little bit of protection, he could probably defend himself against such an obvious blow. So she moved on, next coming his arms.
They weren't ripped but they were muscular and toned from use and exercise of them. His hands were large and his fingers slender. She figured that his torso was just as muscular and would most likely hurt to punch or elbow. His jeans were low despite his having a belt. Which Marie thought was ridiculous. His hip bones protruded above his belted waistline. His belt was thick,black and leather and Marie was sure it could be used as a weapon. Which wasn't a comforting thought to her. Then his jeans ended in black converse and that was it. except of course the fact that his hair was dyed a cranberry color. "cranberry hair?" she murmured under her breath questioningly.
He raised an eyebrow "what?" She shook her head. " nothing important but you know what i think is important? who are you?" She tried to imagine how she looked. laying on the floor leaning back on her hands, but she hoped she looked strong in the least and undeniable in the best. He dropped into a crouch his eyes lazy and unreadable. "The better question is who are you? and why are you continuing to dream of stars when you have not been drafted by the circle?"
Marie blinked in surprise at all the unknown references he made in those sentences. "the circle?" she asked. he nodded looking surprisingly patient. " Ya it's a committee, i suppose you could call it, of starcatchers." Now, she felt, she was even more confused rather than educated. " what are starcatchers?" she asked. he sighed and pointed to her, his finger landing a few centimeters away from her nose " that's what you are."
she leaned her head back and pushed away the finger. "me?" he nodded and smiled. "well i would say your untrained but starcatchers don't go through training. All the information and training they need leaks into their head a little at a time." she sat forward curling up one leg and leaning an arm on the knee of it. "Well, that's a nifty little system but what is all this about being drafted? what for? what is the circle for?"
He looked thoughtful for a moment than said "Well the circle has many people. those people, they have as people their thinking of making part of the circle as starcatchers. These people have dreams and since they have never heard of starcatchers they don't understand what they mean. Now some people the circle likes and chooses to join them and others who don't get chosen stop having the dreams. usually if you get chosen the longest you will have until you get chosen, from when the dreams start till then, is a year. a-" "wait" Marie said cutting him off.
"but I've been having them since i was 15... that's 2 years." "yes." he replied looking her up and down before standing up. "and what i want to know is why do you still have the dreams if they haven't messaged you?" Marie thought about it for a second than had a thought.
"wait! you knew about this! you knew i was unusual. Is that why you broke into my house! oh that's a stupid reason. you're an idiot! you stupid cranberry haired man!" he looked taken aback "what's wrong with my ha- oh no now wait a minute i didn't know anything except that a starcatcher lived here!" Marie frowned confusedly "what do you need a starcatcher for? Oh you still haven't told me what the circle is for actually and what starcatchers do." he rolled his eyes.
"Yes because you interrupted me. Now starcatchers can catch stars and control their power ,which, is extremely powerful. i need a starcatcher's help with a little demon problem but clearly you won't be much help." Marie glared at him "Well if I'm so unhelpful than why are you still here?" he hadn't looked at her but instead had his back to her while saying this last remark and turned at the coldness in her voice. "Well." he said surprising her with a sly smile "because the way that flow of knowledge is activated is when you know what you are and what you do. which is help kill demons. and at first that flow of knowledge is very strong so you should start knowing what to do if a demon comes knocking at your door any second now."
Marie stared at him. "wait... wait a second, is the reason your still here because a demon is about to come knocking at my door?!" he flinched "maybe." Marie jumped up furiously " MAYBE?! MAYBE?! I don't know anything about demons and now you expect me to fight one!" he flinched again "maybe." at this comment Marie growled and made a choking motion at his neck. but then her head ached. no, no it was pounding, pain roaring around her head like an angry stampede of bulls.
she grabbed at her head and fell to her knees. things swirled around her head she had never thought before, information that seemed strange and foreign. than it was gone leaving her thoughts clear and precise.
"I don't have any stars here." she said in a realizing tone. "oh so you don't, really, i thought you would have some sitting in a jar somewhere or something like that." Marie threw her hands up in exasperation " why would i have stars in jars laying around my apartment that's extremely dangerous." than she got up and purposefully walked to her room. "where are you going?" she heard him ask behind her. she turned letting a smirk sneak onto her face "to sleep." His eyes widened "Now?!" he asked exasperatedly.
Marie entered her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. "I don't have any stars here but i have millions maybe even billions in my dreamscape. if i go there and bring one back then i can use it." He pulled a hand through his hair turning in a tight circle. "Okay so what do i do in the mean time while your off in your dreamland." Marie settled herself in the pillows and replied " first off it's a dreamscape not land, scape. second you hold them off, alright, until i can get the star." he nodded and Marie curled into a ball and fell into sleep instantly.