Luna’s Soul

Taken

*Lily*

Lily wasn’t sure what time it was when she woke up, but she was very sure that she was incredibly thirsty.

She rolled over, glancing at the red glow from her alarm clock on the bedside table. Just after two in the morning. She sighed.

She hopped up out of bed, flicking on her lamp and padding off barefoot to the kitchen to make herself a glass of water. The silence and darkness in her house seemed thicker than normal, and Lily once again found herself missing the chaos of laughter and bickering from her foster homes.

She sighed. Her foster homes weren’t always the best; sometimes they had as many as ten kids in one home, three or four to a room. But she’d never felt alone. How could she? Someone was always talking, laughing, playing, even fighting. There was always laundry to be done and dishes to be washed, but Lily had never minded. She missed the sense that a home was chaotic and lived in. As she downed a glass of water and sat her solitary glass in the sink to be washed later, she sighed. She never thought she’d find herself missing the piles of dishes and constant chatter, but she yearned for the distraction from the silence more than ever now.

She knew the day would come when she would be on her own. She’d prepared for it. She had no parents to house her through college, no college fund, no mother to fuss over her when she got married and no father to walk her down the aisle. As far as she knew, her parents didn’t even care if she existed. She knew nothing of them.

Lily walked over to the large sliding glass door that led out to her balcony, peering through the curtains at the moon shining over the trees in the distance. She’d always admired the moon and stars, her entire life— she wasn’t quite sure why she’d always been so fascinated by it, but something about the huge what-if of space seized her every time she looked at the night sky. She’d spent many nights in her apartment in front of her sliding window, her hands covered in paint as she dragged a paintbrush across a canvas, trying unsuccessfully to capture the beauty of the moon.

Lily was pondering this, her forehead almost leaned up against the thick paned glass, when she saw the reflection in the mirror.

She had just sucked in a breathe to scream when the man’s hand clamped down over her mouth and dragged her away from the window.

Lily kicked and screamed, but it was to no success— the man behind her had over a foot and a half on her in height, and her one-hundred-and-ten pounds had nothing on his mass and muscle. But still, she continued to thrash and wail as fear gripped her and adrenaline caused her hands to shake. She could feel her heart hammering in her ears as she screamed, muffled, against the man’s giant hand.

“Stop fighting me,” the man whispered in her ear, his breath blowing against her hair and causing it to tickle her chin. “I won’t hurt you.”

Lily lifted her foot, attempting to kick her attacker in his balls. He grunted, but his hold on her never relaxed. He had her arms pinned to her side now, and she was immobilized.

“I really don’t want to do this like this, Lily,” the man murmured in her ear. “You have to calm down.”

How do you know my name?! Lily wanted to scream. But she couldn’t. The man’s hand on her mouth was tight, but not painful— he left only her nose free so she could breathe.

He’s too strong, she thought to herself. He’s going to kill me.

Lily managed to jerk one of her arms free and tried to reach back to gouge out one of his eyes, but the man caught her arm in his steely grasp ones again. She screamed harder, hoping that his hand would slip and someone would hear. She screamed so hard she was sure she busted blood vessels in her eyes.

She heard the man sigh. “I didn’t want to have to do this,” he told her. “But you leave me no choice. This is the best thing for you, I promise.”

She felt the man brushing her hair away from her neck, and suddenly she felt the prick of a needle.

Lily bucked and screamed, trying to break out of his hold. He just drugged me. Oh my God. He just drugged me. He’s going to kill me.

It was only seconds before she felt the effects of whatever drug he’d injected her with, her movements became slow and lethargic, sluggish. Her attempts to fight the man off had become slow and feeble, and black spots were dancing in front of her vision.

Lily fought to keep her eyes open. She couldn’t form coherent sentences anymore, much less muster up the energy to scream— the man seemed to sense this, because he removed his hand from her mouth and very gently turned her to face him. He was supporting most of her weight now. Lily wasn’t even sure if she was awake or not— everything swirled and danced in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” the man told her. His brown eyes— those familiar brown eyes— were pained and full of agony. “I’m doing this for you.”

I know you, Lily thought.

The man who sniffed her today at work.

Lily wanted to scream; she wanted to fight. But it wasn’t long before her legs could no longer support her, and her knees buckled underneath her. She felt as if she were underwater, held down by three-ton weights.

She stiffened slightly, waiting on the impact of her knees hitting her hardwood floors— but it never came.

Everything faded to black.