GO BACK!!!
1054 Words
Luna didn't sleep.
She couldn't.
She sat on the floor beside her bed, hugging her knees while moonlight spilled through the curtains.
Her mother's words echoed over and over.
"Some truths protect the people we love."
"No..." Luna whispered to herself. "Some truths destroy them."
Outside...
A wolf howled.
She closed her eyes and instantly had another flash in trans.
Trees waving like it's rapture. Heavy Rain with storm while she's running through the forest in mud.
A pair of glowing golden eyes staring back at her from the darkness.
And then all of a sudden, everything disappeared.
She jolted awake, realizing she hadn't remembered falling asleep.
The digital clock read 3:47 a.m.
Her shoes were missing.
***
Promptly, the next morning, Ryan walked into Philosophy 301 with one goal.
Watch Luna.
Not because he distrusted her.
Because he was afraid someone else was watching her too.
Professor Grant continued his lecture.
"Today we'll discuss identity."
"What makes a person who they are?"
Ryan barely heard him.
His attention stayed on Luna.
She looked exhausted.
Dark circles rested beneath her eyes.
She kept rubbing her temples.
Professor Grant suddenly called on her.
"Luna."
She looked up.
"Can you answer?"
She stood automatically, and then froze.
She stood there frozen for almost five seconds.
For the first time since Ryan had met her...
Luna Brooks had no words.
"I'm..."
"I'm sorry…I can't."
Professor Grant studied her face.
"You may sit."
Ryan noticed something no one else did.
Her hands were shaking.
Practice resumed that afternoon.
The women's and men's teams shared the court.
Coach Melissa paired players for a passing drill.
Victoria rolled the ball toward Luna.
"Your turn."
Luna nodded nervously.
She took one dribble.
Then another. A defender accidentally slipped toward her.
For just two seconds, everyone couldn't believe what just happened.
Everything changed.
Luna's feet moved effortlessly, she had a perfect crossover.
Then a spin. She split two defenders with impossible balance.
One smooth step carried her to the basket.
The ball left her fingertips. It was such a perfect arc. And boom! Nothing but net.
Silence filled the gym.
Ryan's eyes widened.
"That wasn't luck..."
Luna realized what she'd done. Immediately her face drained of color.
She deliberately fumbled the next pass.
The ball bounced off her foot.
"Oh...I'm sorry."
One teammate laughed.
"There's the real Luna."
The gym relaxed.
Everyone believed the first play had been an accident.
Everyone actually… Except Ryan.
"She's hiding."
Later that evening...
Ryan sat alone in his apartment.
His laptop glowed in the darkness.
On one side of the screen...
The newest chapter of Midnight Between Us.
On the other...
A notebook.
He began writing.
"Good people don't survive around me."
He underlined it.
Then flipped through the previous chapters of the novel.
"Love arrives before disaster."
"Some people inherit loneliness."
"Silence is the loudest way to ask for help."
Ryan's heartbeat quickened.
He remembered every conversation.
Every sentence, every pause. Just exactly how Luna always talked.
Twenty phrases,twenty exact matches.
He leaned back in disbelief.
"...It's you."
He smiled despite himself.
"The whole campus is searching for the author..."
"...and she's been sitting three seats behind me."
He closed the laptop.
"No…I won't ask."
"When you're ready..."
"...you'll tell me yourself."
***
Across the town...
Victoria sat inside a quiet café.
The private investigator she hired slid a folder across the table.
"I found something." Victoria opened it.
And boom! It goes…
"Luna Brooks."
"Scholarship student."
"Top of her class."
"No criminal history."
"No disciplinary record."
"No father listed."
"Single mother."
She frowned.
"That's all?"
"Not exactly."
He placed another photograph on the table.
A picture of Luna and her mother leaving their apartment.
"They're being watched." Victoria looked up giving a confused facial expression.
"By who?"
"I don't know…. But I'm really certain it isn't campus security."
She tapped the photo thoughtfully.
"So..."
"I'm not the only one interested in her."
For the first time...
Victoria looked genuinely concerned.
*
Night fell.
Clouds covered the moon.
Luna quietly slipped out of her apartment.
She didn't know exactly why. Only that something… something she couldn't really explain was calling her.
She walked through empty streets.
Past the library. Past the basketball arena.
Toward the forest bordering the campus.
Ryan had been driving home when he saw her.
"...Luna?"
She didn't respond. She kept walking and her pace was slow. Almost dreamlike.
Ryan parked immediately.
"Luna!"
Nothing, she ignored him.
He followed her. And the then right into the forest.
The deeper they went into the woods, the quieter everything became.
No insects, no birds chirping. Only the sound of leaves beneath their feet. And this felt extremely weird to Ryan.
"Luna!"
She finally stopped. But still she didn't turn around.
Ryan frowned.
"Luna..."
She whispered so softly he almost didn't hear.
"...Ryan go back."
"What?"
"Please."
"I can't."
"You have to."
He stepped closer.
"We can figure this out."
"You don't understand."
"Then help me."
She slowly turned.
Her eyes shimmered strangely in the darkness.
Not glowing as it should, not yet. Just different in darkness covering her eyeballs.
Fear filled them.
"I'm trying to save you, just go back."
A sudden howl shattered the silence, this time it seemed closer than ever before.
Ryan spun around.
"What was that?"
Branches snapped.
Something enormous moved through the trees. It's was with extreme speed. And way too fast.
"Luna!"
She looked terrified.
"Run!"
"What about you?"
"RUN!"
Another howl.
This one answered by another somewhere farther away.
Ryan grabbed her wrist.
"We're leaving together."
For one heartbeat, he almost smiled.
Instantly, she tore her hand free from him.
"No!"
She sprinted into the forest.
"Luna!" Ryan chased after her.
Branches whipped against his face.
"Luna!" No answer.
Everywhere seemed void with no site that he was with someone. Even a needle drop would sound much louder at that moment.
Suddenly he was hearing pounding footsteps for some seconds.
And then total silence again.
Complete silence.
Ryan slowed.
His breathing became
heavy.
"...Luna?"
Nothing.
He looked around desperately. The clearing was empty.
Then he saw something, it was her phone.
Lying in the mud, the screen had cracked.
Beside it…Fresh blood.
A single drop. And then several others.
Ryan's pulse thundered.
"Luna...?"
The wind carried one final distant howl.
And somewhere beyond the trees...
Something growled.
- Writer
