THE MOON'S FALL

Chapter Twelve

Adriana's POV

Mira sits by the bed with tears pooling down her cheeks. " What did I tell you about being careful" she says amidst the tears. "I'm alright, it was just a little accident" I say trying to pacify her.

"An accident?" she asks with suspicion laced in her voice. " lying doesn't soothe you Adriana. We were not allowed to see you after the accident. So whatever transpired between you and the king was far from little" she accuses.

I hate lying but if a little lie would keep my family safe that's what I'll do. " I tripped and fell while carrying the tray " I say trying to dismiss the subject.

" You know I am here for you if there's anything wrong " she persists. I understand the concern but until I find a way out of this Hell hole, I'm going to have to keep all of them from harm's way.

" I'm alright, I promise. Have you seen Luis and Jeremy? " I ask trying to change the topic. "I saw Luis yesterday. He works in ground duty. He asked after you (she holds my hand). He is worried out of his mind "

she says with a sad look.

"I'll be discharged tomorrow. Tell him I'm doing great and I'll look for him once I'm out of here" I whisper as I see a nurse walking towards us. I do not trust these creatures for s**t.

"Visiting hours are over. She needs to take her medication" the nurse says to Mira. Mira stands up from the bed and walks towards the door " I'll see you tomorrow " she says before leaving the room.

" Why can't I stand? " I ask. " Your body is still recovering from the amount of blood you lost. I'll give you a tonic that'll help bring your body back to its normal state " she answers with no emotion.

Once I recover fully, I need to find a way out of this place. If these creatures can feed from us then we are far from safe.

The nurse brings me out of my thoughts as she rolls up my sleeve. She injects me with a substance. Immediately everything goes black.

THE NEXT DAY

I wake up to someone shaking me vigorously. "For a minute there I thought you were dead. It's time to go. Ms Hilda was able to get you a day off. Make sure you rest really well today" The nurse jokes. I try to sit up and to my surprise I could. My body feels great like I just had cans of energy drinks. Whatever she gave me yesterday must have worked its magic.

" I'll show you the bathroom " She says pointing at the clothes laying at the edge of the bed. I pick up the clothes and follow behind her.

I clean up fast, get dressed and leave the infirmary. The guard at the door took me back to my room. The room is empty. It's still early so I suspect they're all carrying out their respective chores.

An idea popped into my mind. I rummage through my things and find the book I had stolen from the king's room. ' If we are ever going to have chance to escape, I need to know what these creatures have on us. How much knowledge on my kind they have acquired' I thought to myself.

I find the book and start to read through it. The first chapter basically talks about the human anatomy. There are pictures of naked humans. The second chapter shows our feeding habits. There's a list of food items ranging from snacks to proper meals.

I turn to the next page and I'm in awe. There's a picture of MacDonald's. The people in the picture start moving. There's a couple sitting at one edge of the restaurant in the picture. They're chatting over a meal. It feels like I am watching a movie in a book.

Multiple footsteps approach the door. I immediately rush to hide the book then lay on my bed. The door to the room is pushed open and the girls walk in. The shock on their faces was evident.

Mira walks through the stunned crowd to me and we share a hug.She laughed while saying, " Don't mind them. They thought you were dead. I'm so happy you're back".

" So when can I meet the boys? " I ask. " Well, we now have dinner together so we can sneak off after our meal " she suggests. " that sounds like a nice plan " i tell her.

The day goes by quickly. The girls have gone to serve dinner. In few minutes, I'll get to see the other half of my family.

Thinking about family for the first time in my life hurts. I have never been separated from my siblings for so long. It hurts more knowing that Sarella chose the guy who created this havoc over me, her sister and blood. She didn't even try to visit me at the infirmary.

Dad had taught us many lessons but the most important one was 'never to give up on family'. Unfortunately, this was the last straw. If she believes that whatever she has with that bastard is worth losing family then she is on her own.

The girls return and are preparing for dinner. I change into something decent and head to the hall where we eat with Mira giving me directions.

As we got to the hall, I immediately spot Jeremy at the other end of the room. Mira and I walk towards him. He still hasn't noticed our presence behind him.

" Hello Teddy" I say waving at him. He turns to face me and I can see the tears well up in his eyes. I pull him in for a hug and whisper in his ear, " I am alright. There's no getting rid of me so easily ".

For the first time in a very long time Jeremy is silent. We both stay quiet in the hug. " How have you been?" I ask breaking the silence.

" Honestly, everything in this place is overwhelming. We were put in ground duty when we got here. The elderly men were put in charge of ground duty but they give daily reports to the guard commander. Your dad has been worried out of his mind. What exactly happened to you Bear ?" he asks looking intently.

That name, Bear. It's been years since he last called me bear.

When we were younger before the war broke out fully, Jeremy was very meek. He always got bullied in school. I've always been the troublemaker in this friendship. One day after school, I saw two boys pulling him by his collar into the locker room. I had already started training with my brother at that time so I was at a greater advantage. I followed the boys into the locker room and kicked their ass. Once the boys had gone, he pulled me in for a hug. " You looked like a big scary bear" he said and I laughed. Since that day, he called me bear so I felt it was only fair that I called him teddy.

We started training together and the friendship grew stronger. The last time he called me Bear was at his mother's burial ceremony.

A bell rang and meals appeared on the table. I quickly sat and brought food up to my mouth. I really don't want to lie to him.