The Moon Child Crown

VALENCIA POV "Oh, my gosh. I am so sorry, Valencia. I didn't see you there." Raphaela smirked, tilting her red cup. Sticky whiskey poured straight down the front of Valencia's oversized hoodie. Valencia froze. Her knuckles turned white around her backpack straps. She could feel the damp fabric sticking to her n*****s, the cold fluid trickling down her stomach. Don't speak, she told herself, staring hard at the floor. If you open your mouth, you'll stutter and she wins. "Seriously, Val, I did you a favor," Raphaela whispered, stepping closer into her personal space. She smelled like expensive mints and stale alcohol. "That ugly rag belongs in a dumpster. Did you pull it out of the trash this morning, or does your family just share one wardrobe in that pathetic shack of yours? It honestly smells like poverty." Valencia swallowed hard, her jaw locking until it ached. I want to rip that smug look right off her face. But one fight, one write-up, and my tuition assistance is gone. Tía Dorotea will throw me out on the street. I can't do it. I have to swallow it. "Back off, Raphaela," Camila barked, shoving hard between them. "Don't you have a fresh set of lip fillers to go buy? Leave her alone before I make you regret opening your mouth." Raphaela rolled her eyes, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Whatever. I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking." She sauntered off down the hallway, her friends trailing behind her like a pack of trained dogs. Thiago stepped up immediately and pressed a warm paper cup of coffee into her trembling hands, his brow furrowed with deep worry. "You're shaking, Val," Thiago murmured, his voice low and tight. "Did something happen before you left the house today? Tell me the truth." "I'm fine," Valencia muttered, unable to meet his eyes. Fine. A total lie. My cheek still burns from the vicious backhand Tía Dorotea gave me this morning because the kitchen floors weren't scrubbed fast enough to suit her mood. "Attention, everyone!" Professor Vance's voice cut through the hallway noise as he clapped his hands from the lecture hall doorway. "The mandatory ecology retreat into the Greywood trails leaves at five sharp. Attendance is forty percent of your final grade. No exceptions. If you are not on that bus, you fail the semester." "I can't go," Valencia whispered to Camila as they walked into the classroom. "I can't stay out overnight. Dorotea told me if I'm not back by curfew, she'll lock me out for good this time. I'll have nowhere to go." "You have to go, Val," Camila hissed as they took their seats. "Your scholarship depends entirely on this grade. If you lose it, you're stuck in that hellhole with her forever. She'll own you. Don't let that miserable b***h win your freedom." Thiago sat on her other side, leaning down closely. His scent of cedar drifted over her. "I've got your back, Val. I won't leave your side for a single second out there. Promise me you'll come." Valencia looked down at her soaked hoodie. The scholarship is my only ticket out of Calder Hollow. If I stay here, I die. I don't have a choice. I have to go. **** The university bonfire was burning high, its orange flames licking at the dark sky, but the mountain air was brutal. Valencia sat on a camp chair at the end of the circle, shivering in her damp clothes. "Let me get you my jacket from the tent, you're freezing," Thiago offered. "No, stay," Valencia said quickly, squeezing his hand tightly. "If you leave, Raphaela will just come over here to finish what she started. She's been staring at me all night." "She won't dare do anything while I'm here," Thiago muttered, but he stayed put, his thumb rubbing small, comforting circles against the back of her hand. Someone passed a silver flask down the line. Valencia grabbed it and swallowed a heavy, unrefined gulp. The liquor tore down her throat like liquid fire, instantly warming her chest and starting to numb the deep chill in her bones. Just let me feel normal for five minutes, she prayed internally, staring into the dancing sparks. "Truth or dare, everyone," Raphaela's piercing voice suddenly called out across the fire. Her green eyes locked directly onto Valencia's face with predator-like precision. "Val. Let's do truth. Let's see what's actually behind those ugly, oversized glasses." The chatter around the fire died down instantly. The crowd shifted, sensing a fresh, easy kill. "Is it true," Raphaela purred, leaning forward on her lawn chair with a cruel, beautiful smile, "that your aunt only keeps you around as an unpaid maid because nobody else wanted you? The neighbors say your parents wrapped their car around a tree just to get away from a freak like you." Valencia couldn't breathe. The cruel words hit her like a punch to the stomach, knocking the air from her lungs. The last memory of her family was of them walking out of her room, promising to come back with something sweet for her. Mom. Dad. Leo. Baby Lily. All dead in a single, bloody second while she sat safely at home with a childhood fever. Why did I survive? her mind screamed, a wave of drowning guilt crashing over her. Why did the car take them and leave me here to be a ghost? To be tortured by these people? "Aw," Raphaela mocked, raising her plastic cup toward her. "Did the charity case finally hit her limit? Are you going to cry now?" No, she thought, her jaw tightening until her teeth clicked. I will die right here before I let them see a single tear drop from my face. Valencia stood up so fast her camp chair flipped backward into the dirt. "Going for a walk," Valencia choked out, her voice raw. "Val, wait!" Thiago yelled, reaching out to grab her wrist. She pulled away from his grip with sudden, fierce strength. "Don't follow me, Thiago. Just leave me alone! I mean it!" She turned and ran blindly away from the light, her sneakers digging into the rough dirt path. Camila shouted her name, but Valencia didn't stop. She pushed past a metal sign at the edge of the trail: GREYWOOD RESERVE. DO NOT ENTER. I don't care about the university rules. I don't care if I get lost in the dark and freeze to death. There is nothing left inside me worth protecting anyway. Let me disappear. She ran until her legs finally gave out near the base of an ancient oak tree. She slid down the rough bark, pulling her knees tight against her chest and burying her face in her arms. Hidden in the deep shadows where no one could see her shame, she finally let the bitter, choked tears spill over her cheeks. Then the entire forest went completely dead. A heavy, absolute stillness settled over the brush, thick and heavy. The tiny hairs on the back of Valencia's neck prickled as adrenaline flooded her veins. I'm not alone. Something is out there. Valencia gasped, forcing her tear-stained head up against the bark. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. A shadow moved between the thick trees directly ahead of her. It was massive, shifting through the darkness with a terrifying, silent grace that didn't belong to a human. A heavy scent of rain and dark wood smoke hit her nose, thick and dizzying. The smell alone made a strange, hot ache bloom deep in the core of her belly. "You shouldn't be here," a voice growled from the dark. It was low, rough, and vibrating with a dominant, raw authority that made her entire body shudder. The sound echoed straight through her skin, pooling between her thighs with a sudden, unexpected heat that frightened her. Valencia scrambled backward, her back pressing flat against the tree trunk as her breath caught in her throat. Two piercing, molten gold eyes opened in the shadows, staring right back at her.