The House of Angels

To the Moon

THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN THEMES OR SITUATIONS THAT CAN UPSET THE READERS

"What did you mean he did good? He was a mess. He could have been seriously injured." Moon said softly, trying not to be rude.

"He fought for his family. I'll go talk to those kids and work things out. We take these matters very seriously here." He said, pursing his lips.

"What were you reading?" Moon asked, trying to change the subject. She hoped he'd actually only talk to the kids, at least.

"Hemingway. But I'd like to read something of yours, too." He smiled at her, going back to his spot.

Moon was dumbfounded.

"How do you know I write?"

"You told me yesterday, on the car, when Josh and Eddy left us inside to go buy some water for you. You told me you like to write and I told you I'd like to take a look at your works and you said yes. So now, where is the stuff?" He smirked smugly at her.

"Listen, I was very drunk yesterday, it doesn't matter." She turned and took a seat on the armchair near his.

"Oh, come on, it's not fair." He scoffed.

"Why would I do something like that? I never let anyone read anything. Not even my closest friends. It's personal stuff." She cut short.

He leaned toward her with pursed lips.

"You promised." He whispered.

"Why would you be interested anyway? I bet you don't even want to read it. You just want to make fun of me."

"You hurt my feelings for the second time today." He sighed. "If I show you that I really like reading will you let me read your stuff?" He asked her standing up and offering her his hand.

"I don't think so." She jumped from her seat, heading toward the door but Daniel hold her back by her wrist. He hugged her from behind, holding her by her waist gently, his lips barely brushing her ear.

"Art thou pale for weariness of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth," he began, whispering softly in her ear "wandering companionless among the stars that have a different birth and ever changing, like a joyless eye that finds no object worth its constancy?" He paused briefly, nuzzling her neck "Thou chosen sister of the Spirit, that gazes on thee till in thee it pities ..." he whispered, inhaling deeply her fruity scent right after. He loved peaches.

"What was that?" She whispered, trembling a little for all the sensations she was feeling due to his closeness. She felt electric and shivers kept running down her body, leaving her knees weak and her heart in turmoil.

"That was Percy Bysshe Shelley's 'To the Moon'. I thought you'd like it." He took a step backward, taking her hand and leading her toward a bookcase in particular, then he stopped.

"It must be here. Look for it." He whispered, not bothering stepping backward to make room for her, so he was behind her again while she looked for Shelley's works.

"I can't find it. Also, I can't reach the highest shelf. Why don't you take it for me?" She said, struggling to reach the top shelf.

He softly giggled, before raising an arm and easily reaching the top shelf, his strong chest lightly brushing her back, his enveloping scent driving her into a sweet daze.

He took a book down and opened it for her to read the poem he'd just recited.

He looked intently at her while her big, bewitching eyes ran through the lines. Her lips were slightly parted and he felt the urge to bite them.

Her crop trop enlightened the shape of her big breasts. And now the only thing he could think about was drinking tequila from her naked, tight body. His c**k twitched inside his briefs and he knew he had to stop fantasizing before she noticed and came to the conclusion that he really was a pervert!

"So, now you know I was serious. I hope you'll keep your word, Moon." He smiled before turning around and walking out of the room.

Moon stood there dumbfounded. She scolded herself for talking too much and she surely wasn't going to let him read her deepest thoughts and bare her soul before him.

She looked at the poem and couldn't help but smile at his gesture. And she found that side of him very sexy. Not only he liked reading, he even recited beautiful poems and made her feel special.

Her phone started ringing, distracting her from her dangerous thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Where the f**k have you been?! We called you all day and you didn't even bother to call back when you turned your phone on!" Malika's voice thundered against her ear.

"Oh, Mali, I was going to call you. I overslept." She hoped Malika would just drop it, she wasn't in the mood for a lecture in that moment.

"You overslept, Moon? It's not like you to oversleep and skip practice. We were about to call the f*****g cops, Moon. We thought your father was back, or that you had an accident. You never turn off your phone. I..." she burst in tears, unable to go on.

"Hey, Mali, please... I'm sorry I scared you all, I couldn't know you'd think the worst. I got drunk yesterday and I suppose my phone died, I couldn't even remember how I got to bed, if Josh hadn't told me. I'm sorry." She felt guilty knowing that her friends were panicking while her drunk ass slept peacefully.

"Josh?! You mean Mr Olympic god? The one who came to get you yesterday?" Malika asked curious.

"Uhm, yeah..." Moon answered, frowning, she was literally crying thirty seconds ago.

"So... you two are, you know, banging?" She asked in a mischievious tone.

"What? No, Mali, we just went to a party, that's all." She said, incredulous.

"Yeah, but why? You've known him for how long? Two days?"

"Well, he is very kind and sweet. I could use a distraction so we went to this rave at the lake and Daniel kept offering me weed, I kept drinking tequila and..."

"Wait a moment, who's this Daniel, now?"

"He is another guy from the foster home."

"So you all went there?"

"No, just the three of us, why? Is this an interrogation?" Moon scoffed.

"No, just curious, you know there was a time when you told me everything."

"You're right. We need to meet as soon as possible..." Moon missed her best friend and she felt a little guilty for neglecting her.

"Sure! But now, tell me, is this Daniel another god of s*x or just a random guy?" Malika asked, curious.

"Daniel is hot. This is what you wanted to know, isn't it?" Moon sighed.

"Really?! And so, is he the one banging you?"

"Nobody's banging me, Malika." He said dryly.

"Yeah? You're boring. Do you like one of them, at least?"

"Malika, they are both handsome and that's why they're out of my league. I've seen the kind of girls Daniel likes to date. He flirts a lot but that's all. Josh, on the other hand, told me he likes me but I think he was only joking. We were drunk, maybe he just wanted to get laid. Anyway, I've got more serious problems to deal with, right now." She sighed.

"I know, that's why I was trying to distract you. You know, handsome guys can be very distracting..." Malika said smugly.

"Yeah, listen, I have to go now, I'll text you later, bye." She said, hanging up before Malika could say anything else, noticing that Helena was entering the room, with a serious expression.

"You should stay away from him." She said sternly.

"Come again...?" Moon wasn't sure she'd heard well.

"You should avoid getting close to Daniel. He's bad news and you can't even imagine how serious I'm being about it. You don't know what he's involved in. You should have left him alone when I told you." She sighed, folding her arms on her chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Helena." Moon was pissed by Helena's words, who did she think she was?

"Josh is a good guy, but he's wrapped around Daniel's fingers. You can't trust either of them, yet you went to that rave party with them yesterday." Helena said frowning.

"Cazzo! (f**k!) How do you know about the party?" Moon widened her eyes, surprised.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Sister Mary about it, I'm not that kind of person. I just wanted to warn you, you know, Daniel is evil and the sooner you realize it the better."

"Oh come on, he's not that bad..."

"Do you think? Ok, let me tell you something.

You will meet Sister Monica next week, before her there was another nun, she was very young, twenty-four maybe, Sister Madleine. One day, Mrs Solonov went to Sister Madleine's room and found her naked on all fours, with Daniel taking her roughly from behind, while choking her with her rosary." Helena said angrily.

"Oh my God... was he raping her?!" Moon asked shocked. She couldn't picture him doing something like that. And she was really drunk the night before, he could have easily take advantage of her but he didn't.

"No, Moon. She was enjoying it. It wasn't even the first time they had s*x. It had been going on for months, Moon. Sister Madleine told everything to Sister Mary and I don't know what she told her, but she was shocked by whatever it was." Helena looked straight into her eyes. "He is so evil he debauched a young virgin nun. She was literally a saint and ended up ruining her life because of him. What do you think will happen to you?" Helena glanced at her one last time before disappearing behind the door leaving Moon alone and confused.