The Kidnapped Soul of Luna

Carmel held the sketch book away from herself, at arms length, so that she could analyze her work. This image of a woman that she had never met kept bouncing around in her head and she didn't know why. She even had a lucid dream about her last night. She was tall, willowy, pale and so blond that her hair almost glowed. She would whisper something to Carmel, but it was so soft and quiet, she couldn't make out what the woman was saying. She woke up itching to sculpt the woman's bright and beautiful face in clay. She couldn't wait to get into the ceramic studio at school. In the meantime, she had made several drawings of the woman with different expressions, exploring proportion and angles. Thinking of school, Carmel looked at her watch. She needed to put her sketchbook away and get herself ready to go to the party. She was normally not interested in going out, despite being considered a member of the “glitterati.” She looked in the mirror as she carefully applied her make-up. She decided to go with a simple smoky eye, with a little extra on the cat-eye liner, mascara and a dark red lippy. She smacked her lips together to spread the color evenly. Her midnight black hair was in a pixie cut, with a slight natural curl to it, framing her tanned heart-shaped face. The tan was the result of a week on a yacht on the Riviera. The yacht belonged to a friend of her late parents and had been offered to give her some peace and quiet, away from prying eyes, in her off hours while working in Europe. She had gone to Cannes, Nice and Monaco to promote her parent’s three favorite charities, one focused on raising money for STEM education for underserved teens, another organization supported clean oceans, and the third was promoting renewable resources. Her parents had been saints. She had big shoes to fill. She was relieved to be back in New York, even though she was still a little jetlagged. Tonight’s party was not a lofty event. It was a “welcome to” shin-dig being held at Waterton University. The small, private liberal arts college that she was starting at tomorrow. Still, she tried to always look her best before stepping out of her apartment as the paparazzi would be lurking somewhere, always trying to get a picture of the “poor little rich girl” for their tabloid magazines. As much as she hated parties and the light banter that went along with them, she was more than excited to be starting her college career tomorrow and getting to know a few of the other students before classes started could only be a good thing. And, of course, she would be on the arm of her charming new-ish boyfriend, Xavier. Ding, her phone text chimed. The text read, “I’m here.” Speak of the devil! Carmel slipped on her ridiculously high heels, which somehow made her sleeveless “little black dress” look even shorter. She grabbed her clutch and told her phone, using its voice command feature, to text Xavier back to let him know she was on her way down. She dashed to the elevator, slipping her phone into her purse. “Hello gorgeous,” Xavier said, giving Carmel “that” look that made her just a little uncomfortable. She shook it off. “Hello yourself, handsome!” she said as cheerily as she could. He opened the car door for her on his older model, four-door Pontiac sedan. She had offered to order an Uber, but he insisted on driving, which was a little unusual for him. But she wanted to make him happy as her starting school would make it harder for them to see each other. She gave in, but if he started drinking, she would Uber home. “So,” he asked, “Are you nervous about your classes tomorrow? “Yes and no… I mean, I HAVE to major in business, because of all… of all of the family stuff.”  She was reluctant to talk about all of the boards that she was expected to be on, even though he seemed eager to talk about it. Carmel really tried to avoid any conversation that brought up images of how incredibly wealthy she was. People would pretend to like her when they found out. Eventually, they would want her to buy gifts for them… weird, extravagant things, like luxury cars, condo’s, jewelry or trips. That was one of the things that she liked about Xavier... he never asked her for anything. He didn’t complain if she offered to pay for something either… so there was a little balance. “Basic academic classes are, well, easy for me,” she continued, humbly truthful. “The thing I am most nervous about is the ceramics class with Lenny Thomas.” Mr. Thomas was a well-known sculptor who would be teaching at Waterton for the next two years and was the main reason that Carmel had chosen this school. She could take business classes anywhere… but to study under such a talented artist was her dream. “Hmm…” he said, half-listening, tapping a finger on the steering wheel to the beat of the music streaming through the cars speakers from his phone. “I expect this party to be epic!” And there you go… that was one of the things that she didn’t like about Xavier. He would ask her a question and then tune out… as if he didn’t really care about the answer. They hadn’t been dating for very long. Carmel expected that the distance that her schooling would put between them would most likely be the end of their non-threatening romance. He was nice enough, not heart-fluttering or anything, but she was happy with him for now. It was nice to have someone to accompany her to some of her many social engagements. He drove to the on-campus house of the University President who was hosting the event. It was a giant, turn of the century brick mansion with ivy climbing all of the walls. Walking in to the noisy foyer, Carmel went to look for the host and hostess first, her lifelong social training kicking in, to thank them for inviting her. Xavier followed behind, suddenly looking nervous as she introduced him as her guest. As soon as she stepped out of the reception line, he practically dragged her to the open bar, ordering himself a gin and tonic. “We’re underaged,” she said loudly in his ear so he could hear her over the buzz of noise and the band. “Everyone is drinking, look around,” he shot back. She did look around and he was right… still, she didn’t want to get in trouble before she even started her classes, especially in the University President’s house. “What can I get you?” he yelled over the din. “Just a glass of cranberry juice,” she shouted back. He grimaced at her, obviously disappointed. After getting the drinks, he took her by the elbow and lead her to the back deck. It was quiet and, surprisingly, empty of party-goers. “How did you know this was here?” She asked him curiously taking her straw to get a sip. “I, uhh… I saw it on the way in,” he replied. She had to admit, it was nicer out here even if it was rather dark. The light must be broken, she mused, which is also probably why no one else was gravitating to this spot. A minute of two later, another gentleman joined them on the porch. He was huge, like a linebacker and had a blond crew-cut too, very militaristic. “Hey, Malcolm, there you are!” Xavier said excitedly. “You know each other?” asked Carmel. “Yeah,” said the blond, sticking out a hand, “I’m Beta Malcolm.” “Beta Malcolm?” she repeated quizzically. “Yeah,” said Xavier, “He’s in a… fraternity. We grew up together.” “Oh,” said Carmel trying to figure out what seemed out of place. “She is perfect in every way, just like you said,” Malcolm was staring at her. Carmel blushed deeply. He was looking at her in that uncomfortable way that Xavier did sometimes. Like she was prey. She smiled at them both and said, “We should probably go inside and join the party… ouch!” She felt the prick of a needle go into her arm. She looked up at Xavier accusingly, “What the…” and everything went black.   When she woke up, she had a pounding headache. She heard metal clanking on metal. She tried to lift her head, but she felt weaker somehow. The event from the night before started coming back to her. Her eyes flew open and she was surprised to find herself in a rather sparse little room. She heard the clanging again, coming from behind her. When she turned, she saw a wall of prison bars and a tall brunette rattling a metal stick in between the bars making them ring like a dinner bell. “Rise and shine, “Princess” Luna. You have a visitor today. Time to shift!” the woman said. “What?” was all Carmel could get out. She recognized the language as English, but the words didn’t make any sense. “I said get your scrawny ass out of bed, Kylara. It is Paxi’s turn to run the ship. Logan needs his mommy,” said the tall woman. “I don’t understand you. What are you talking about? Who are you? Where am I?” Carmel demanded. “Don’t give me that bullsh*t, b*tch! Let Paxi out or so help me Goddess, I will come in there and beat you’re a** black and blue.” Carmel was out of the bed in a shot saying, “watch your language with me, lady!”. She felt dizzy for a moment and then looked down. She was wearing someone else’s clothes. The woman started yelling at her. “Shift! SHIFT!” “WHAT THE ARE HECK YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT DOES SHIFT MEAN? WHERE AM I? I WANT MY LAWYER!” The woman stared at her, “Oh my Goddess, Kylara, you are such a piece of work!” Carmel began to hyperventilate. She had been kidnapped! My God! And Xavier had been in on it! He was a… he was a… even in her thoughts she couldn’t bring herself to swear, but she was having trouble finding the words… He was a very bad boyfriend! She looked at the threatening woman. Her eyes were a bit unfocused and she was now ignoring Carmel… maybe she was on drugs. Carmel began to scream for help, hoping that someone would hear her.