LUNA'S RETURN

CHAPTER FIVE: PERSONAL HELP

RIVERA’S POV

I stood up from my kneeling position and dusted off my kneecaps which were already red from bruises. I moved to the next figurine on Celeste’s cabinet and knelt down again, squinting my eyes because of the pain.

I had earned myself a personal servant position for Celeste for an entire week because of a little prank, and got no justice for my chopped off hair.

Celeste had ordered me to kneel and clean everything in her room, beginning from her figurines. My knees which were recovering from my bathroom pack duties of scrubbing the floors, were already red and tears dropped from my eyes the second they touched the ground for me to clean another figurine.

I threw the cleaning rag across the room and sat down to cry. Why had life always been so unfair to me?

“That’ll teach you not to mess with me, you stupid brat!”. I turned to see Celeste in front of me with folded arms.

I swallowed hard and tried to fight back the tears in my eyes.

“I..I trust…trusted you Celeste. Why are you doing this to me? You can have him Celeste, he doesn’t even want me anymore” I said, wiping my tears with the back of my palms.

“Oh sweetheart, you were his first love. As long as your sneaky self is here, you can steal him away from him” Celeste said.

She then squatted close to me. “Let me tell you a secret. It’s not about making you suffer, Rivera. It’s about making sure Casper sees nothing useful in a relationship with you ever again”.

…

I dabbed my bruises cautiously with a wet towel.

“Ahh!” I screamed. I was done with Celeste for the day and she was kind enough to let me get some sleep after making me do all sorts of chores with my already bruised knees.

My knees were terribly sore and I was tired. I wrapped my kneecaps with some bandage and slipped into my bathtub. I didn’t even have the energy to take a bath and I lay there till I fell asleep.

I woke up around midnight and stepped out of the tub, wrapping myself in my bathrobe. I threw myself on my bed and fell asleep again.

I woke up with my face covered in sweat. I had a nightmare about Celeste becoming Casper’s fated mate.

I exhaled loudly and wiped my face, stepping out of bed. I began to hum my favorite song, a song which my father used to sing to me whenever I had nightmares. I opened my windows and the sun was already out. I had overslept!

I rushed into my bathroom because I had to be at Celeste’s door before she woke up. I replaced the bandages on my kneecaps with fresh ones after taking a shower. I threw on a dress, packed my short hair into a small ponytail and left my room immediately.

I walked quickly down the halls leading to Celeste’s room, breaking into a run several times. I was at Celeste’s door when I met her door open. She was already up and I was in trouble!

I walked in slowly, expecting a degrading scolding from her but I was surprised to meet her happily chatting away with her friends on her bed.

“Finally, she arrives” Celeste announced, as all the girls turned to look at me.

Celeste came down from the bed and stood beside me.

“ Girls, this is my personal help for the week, Rivera. I’m sure you’ve seen her around with Casper, back when she thought she was the one for him. Isn’t she delightful?” Celeste said, smiling wide.

I bowed my head slowly after the embarrassing introduction. The girls whispered amongst themselves, observing me.

They were all wrapped in night robes so I assumed they had spent the night in Celeste’s room having a sleepover. They were all tall and very pretty just like Celeste, flaunting their long hairs.

“Alright, what are you waiting for? Get to work in my bathroom. I and the girls need to shower soon” Celeste ordered, snapping me back to reality.

I walked quietly with the girls watching me closely, to Celeste’s bathroom and shut the door.

I leaned against the door, glad that the awkward moment was over. I could hear the girls giggling loudly and I felt an even bigger wave of shame envelope me. I was worthless in their eyes which meant that Celeste’s plan was working.

I picked up a bucket, a cleaning brush and a cleaning rag and got to cleaning.

“So, Cel, you never told us how you got THE CASPER to forget about his childhood love?” Astrid, one of the girls asked.

“Yeah… I mean he was every girl’s childhood crush and yet none of us had the guts to confess our feelings for him because we knew he was tied to Rivera” Sage, another girl exclaimed.

“Girls, there was a reason my father was made Gamma” Celeste began.

“ He is a wise man. And no doubt he passed his wisdom down to me. I found a loophole to Casper’s heart when all of you were stuck in your imaginations with him. I am my father’s daughter after all” Celeste said.

I could hear them through the bathroom walls and I could picture Celeste gloating and flicking her long hair over her shoulder. The girls clapped proudly and I felt my heart sink down to my stomach.

“You’re my idol, Celeste” Sage exclaimed, as the other girls cheered in support.

“I have to admit girls, I invested a whole lot of time watching Casper and Rivera’s relationship closely for an opportunity to come in. When Rivera’s father died, Rivera became distant to everyone and I noticed that Casper had become an egomaniac so I saw my opportunity. You had to see the look on poor Rivera’s face when she saw me with Casper in bed. It was blissful!” Celeste explained, laughing aloud as the girls joined her to laugh.

“She deserves it. She had it coming. A lowly girl making Casper, a next in line Alpha fall for her” Iris, another girl said.

“Exactly! Who did she think she was?!” Astrid exclaimed.

“She would get so tired of trying to reclaim Casper’s love and go back to wherever her dead family came from! Foolish girl!” Quinn, another girl said.

Tears flowed freely from my eyes as the girls talked over each other, supporting Celeste’s decision to make me suffer for falling in love with Casper.

“Shhh! Girls, girls! She might hear us” Celeste said, as the noise reduced.

The room became silent and all of a sudden, the girls burst into laughter. They didn’t even care that I was listening to them. The mockery was on a different level.

“I’m just getting started girls. I’ve got bigger plans for Rivera, trust me. You definitely won’t be disappointed to see what I come up with next” Celeste said, as the girls cheered her on.

I was done cleaning the bathroom and I opened the door slowly and stepped out. The room went quiet immediately as the girls turned to watch me again, standing in front of them.

“Get out if you’re done and stop dripping water on my floor, you foolish girl!” Celeste yelled.

I turned and started walking slowly towards the door.

“Get some rest and come back at night” Celeste said, as I opened the door.

“But I have to sleep…” I contested.

“Do not make me repeat myself Rivera” Celeste responded, interrupting me.

“Yes” I murmured and walked out of the room.

“Get ready Rivera, because I have a show for you” I heard Celeste say as I moved further away from the room.