The Luna Gypsy

Chapter 7

Amelia POV

I curled up into a ball and cried silently to myself as I thought of Luca and marrying him. How could mother even suggest him? He’s old enough to be my father. When she told me I would be marrying him, all I could think about was the man with the beautiful face and eyes that haunt my dreams. I stepped forward to ask mother to reconsider and was met with his hand. He slapped me with such force; I went crashing into the dirt on the ground. I think I actually saw unicorns flying around my head from his blow. Everything went blurry and a loud hissing rang in my ears, and my cheek throbbed. It felt like it had its own heartbeat thumping away in the side of my face, and all mother could do was laugh. She allowed him to do that, and she thought it was funny.

My mind shifts as sleep takes me to the handsome man who’s consumed my heart and soul. He’s all I think about most days. The minutes of my life tick by, consumed with thoughts of him.

This time he is somewhere beautiful. A large body of water crashes against the shore, making a beautiful sound. The earth beneath my shoes feels strange. It’s not solid and my feet sink into it slightly. I look down and notice I’m standing on sand; the sand stretched out for as far as I could see. The air feels fresh as the wind blows against my skin.

I sat beside him, wishing I could stay in this moment for the rest of my life, just him and me. He keeps asking me questions this time, like he’s trying to figure out where I am.

I can’t have that. If he comes to find me, mother will kill him. She hates outsiders more than she hates me, and I couldn’t even contemplate what I would feel if something happened to him.

I have to keep him safe from her. I don’t mind taking her cruel punishments if it keeps him safe.

I sit up from my sleep smiling. Kez stops and looks at me with her smile matching my own.

“You went to see him again, didn’t you?” She asks.

Her beautiful brown hair is waving around as she moves.

“Yes. I can feel his heart calling out to me. Every day it gets stronger and stronger and…”

I throw myself back onto my bed, frustrated and confused. I can hear Kezia moving closer to the bed. Her footsteps are light but I can still hear them.

“We will be gone before the new moon. You will not marry Luca.”

She whispers in my ear in case anyone is close by. I lean into her and whisper back.

“Do you think we can do it, Kez? Do you think we can get away?”

She pulls away and nods her head.

“Come on, mother is waiting for our next lesson.”

She stands up, grabbing one of the white dresses, tossing it at me so I can change. I think back to the man who has been occupying my dreams since my accident, how anyone could even compare to him, especially Luca.

Even thinking of Luca makes my skin itch and my stomach twist. I can feel the courage growing inside of me. I will make it out of this place and if I fail and have to marry Luca, I will kill myself. I nodded my head to myself in the small mirror hanging on the wall, satisfied with my backup plan and ready for that outcome.

As I walk across the clearing and look around, trying to remember my life before now to see if I was ever happy here, everything is fuzzy.

I can’t even remember falling off the ladder as I was picking apples from the orchard. I can’t remember anything since before then. It’s just a dark hole filling my mind whenever I try to think of my past. I have been told things like how mother rescued me as a child from wolves and raised me, but I just can’t see it in my mind. It’s a void, an empty void of nothingness. The only thing I know is him. The green-eyed man who has stolen my heart. I must know him. I can feel it deep within myself. My heart knows it as well.

I enter Mother's learning hut and instantly regret taking my time walking over here. She shakes her head in irritation at my tardiness and glares at me with her soulless eyes, pointing to the elixir she has waiting for me on the table. I walk toward it, quickly throwing it down my throat and wishing I had something to wash away the foul taste it has left.

“Ok, now that we are all present.” She throws her irritated gaze at me again and I have to hold the urge to roll my eyes at her. The last time I did, I had to spend two days in the pit. I’ve only just gotten out and I don’t wish to return again, especially when I’m so close to getting away from here.

The pit is a giant hole at the edge of the village, just by the forest. It’s surrounded by tall grass and large trees. If you didn’t know it was there, you would simply walk past it or fall in. The floor is the earth, and it’s open to the elements.

The last time I rolled my eyes at mother, I was thrown in naked and left without food or water. When the heavens opened up, I was thankful. I stood in the center with my head back and mouth open, taking as much of the liquid being offered to me as I could. Thankfully, my body temperature runs higher than everyone else here. I don’t know why and mother seems to detest me for it, so thankfully I didn’t freeze to death.

When I first woke up after my accident and I was making my way back home, I watched in horror as they pulled a young man from the hole. He tried to take his bells off his ankle so he could leave, and that was his punishment. He ended up dying from the cold. His body was pale and stiff and that image plays in my head every time I think of taking my bells off.

“We have had some of our brothers and sisters disappearing. We believe they have run away.”

“Mother, what was that thing yesterday?” Lash asks.

I lean forward, desperate to hear what mother has to say.

“It was a werewolf, but it’s nothing to worry about. It somehow got inside, but it has been taken care of.”

Her voice was honeyed, but her body was saying a different thing. Her eyes never met anyone else’s. She kept her hands under the table, but I could see her fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke. I noticed a few of my brothers and sisters looking at each other from mother's answer. Maybe they have heard of a werewolf before and it terrifies them. I can’t say I blame them. It looked like it had stepped straight out of my nightmares, but I have never heard of such a creature before now.

“What’s a werewolf?” I ask.

She lets out a deep sigh and sits up straight, placing her hands on the table now. This is the first time anyone has spoken without being asked and not been given a punishment.

It feels strange.

“It’s a supernatural creature that can shape shift. It can change from a human to that creature we saw. It could be anyone and we wouldn’t even know it. It lives on the flesh of others. That’s how it survives.” The image of the body I found in the woods runs through my mind. I open my mouth but I’m stopped by mother holding her hand up.

“No Amelia, it has nothing to do with what you found. We went to check for this body you supposedly found and there was nothing there.”

She waved her hand in the air over exaggerating her movements as she spoke. My mouth opened to ask another question.

“No Amelia!” She snapped, making me sit back and shut my mouth.

“Now who can tell me why we must never leave here?”

A hand flies up into the air. Kez looks at me and rolls her eyes at seeing that it's Simza, eager to please as always.

“Yes, Simza.”

“Because these lands are scarred and we must protect them with our life. The moon goddess blessed us with this place, so we must look after it.”

“Very good.”

I raise my hand.

“Yes, Amelia.” She says.

You can hear the annoyance and hate in her voice as she utters my name. I don’t understand why she hates me so much, but she doesn’t hide her feelings.

“If the moon goddess gave us this land to protect, why does she not help us now? Why does she let us suffer the way we are? Why does she let our brothers and sisters die? And why are our punishments so horrible?”

Her face flushed red as her eyes squinted at me. I shrank back against the wall, wishing I had kept my mouth shut.

“Take her to the pit.” She shouted.

Panic flies through me.

I can’t go to the pit, not now, not when I’m so close to escaping.

“I didn’t mean to upset you mother, I was wondering, that’s all.” I cried.

I’m grabbed by two pairs of hands and pulled back.

“No! I don’t want to go.” I sćrėam, pulling against my captures.

I can’t let them take me to the pit. I managed to free one hand and I don’t know what came over me. Sometimes it’s like another person lives inside of me, a strong and fierce warrior-type person who has no fear.

I kicked the one who was still holding on to my arm on his leg. I heard the bone snap as he dropped to the floor, sćrėaming.

“I’m sorry Tamas. I didn’t mean to do that.”

I bent down to see if he was ok and to help him when I felt more hands grab me. This time I flip myself up and over them, punching the man closest to me and knocking him out.

“Lash.” I cry, my hands coming up to my mouth in shock.

I can’t believe I hurt two of my brothers.

“Do you wish to incapacitate all of your family, Amelia?”

Mother's voice rings out loud and clear. Her hand is clasped around her amulet and I can see her fingers moving across it. I hear the sound of something rushing through the air fast as I’m lashed from behind by a tree with vines growing across its trunk.

This time it burns. I can feel the searing pain rippling across my skin, traveling in every direction. I sćrėam out as the crippling pain radiates down my spine, making my legs give up on me and making me drop down to the ground.

The pain intensifies as I try to suck some air into my lungs, making my eyes fill up with tears I refuse to shed.

“Go peacefully or I'll give you more of that.” She hisses as she moves closer to me.

I glance to the side and see Lash is starting to come around. His eyes were full of confusion. I rise from the floor, my legs shaking as the pain surges down my back again.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I move past Lash.

The tears start to silently trickle down my face along with the blood down my back.

“It’s ok.” I hear him say.

I know none of my brothers meant to hurt me, but if they didn’t do as they were told, they would have been joining me in the pit. I slowly walk towards the large gaping hole in the floor. With each step I take toward the pit, my stomach painfully gripes and clenches, making me want to drop down to the floor and beg for forgiveness.

The black void comes into my line of sight as my hope of escaping here dwindles. The wind rushes through my hair, carrying my happiness with it. I stand at the edge, looking down, waiting for the ladder.

“You get one week for your behavior and an extra 3 days because I enjoy seeing you suffer.”

Mother whispered the last part close to my ear, so no one heard her.

I feel her hand on my back, right on the open wound from the vines. She digs her nails in as she pushes me into the hole.

I wake up with a buzzing in my head. I look around confused for a moment before I remember I was punished for asking about this exact thing. My heart stabs in my chest when I think of the man with the beautiful emerald green eyes and how I can’t go to him like this. I don’t want him to see me bloodied and dirty. I lay down and look up at the stars, sending a silent prayer to the so-called moon goddess who leaves us here to suffer in her name.

I watch as the night turns to day.

Over and over.

I’m not sure how many days I have been in here, but each night I watch as the moon gets fuller and fuller and my chance of escaping gets smaller and smaller. My body hurts from getting pushed down here and my stomach is trying to eat itself. My back doesn’t feel like it’s healing either. It’s sore with every move I make. The weather has been incredibly hot, so I’ve not been blessed by the rain this time. My lips hurt. I can feel them cracking open whenever I move them and the inside of my mouth feels like I’ve been licking tree bark for months.

“Amelia.”

A hushed shout calls to me. I look up and see Kezia looking down on me. She throws something down into the pit.

I scramble over and unwrap the cloth package to see it’s a sandwich and a flask of water. I greedily guzzle the water, replenishing myself with the lifesaving liquid. It hurts at first to drink it, but then it soothes my aching throat.

Next, I take a large bite of the sandwich. I feel like moaning loudly as I swallow the clump of heaven that was tossed down to me.

“Amelia, I will come back later when everyone is asleep, eat up and be ready,” Kezia whispers loudly down to me.

I don’t reply. My throat is too sore from the lack of water, but she knows I heard her. I felt my body relax, like it had been wound up too tightly and now it had been loosened up. My muscles ached from how tense my body had been. I closed my eyes and placed my hand over my pounding heart. Kezia isn’t leaving me, she is coming back for me and we will both make our way to freedom, together. Just like we planned.

The thought of leaving this dreadful place fills me with excitement.

Then I think of him. I’ve not seen him since I was thrown in here and I don’t know if this will work, if me and Kezia will get away from this place or if mother will catch us and kill us for trying to escape.

I look down at my dirty hands and torn dress, wishing I looked better, but I have to see him again, just one more time, because I don’t know if this will be the last time I ever will. I close my eyes and think of him. I think of his emerald green eyes and his beautiful smile. His handsome face, even with a scar he is still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. I concentrate on him, focusing my mind and feeling myself being tugged toward him.

“Amelia, what happened?” He says, pulling me into his body and holding me close to him.

My body hums being close to him and when his skin touches mine, it tingles with pleasant vibes that run through me.

“It’s nothing. I need you to listen to me. I don’t have much time and I’m not sure if I will get to come back and see you again. My name is Amelia Nyx and I am from the Seraphic clan. If I make it out, I will come and find you, but if I don’t, I want you to know that the last four months have been unforgettable.”

His eyes flashed black, but I didn't waste any time. I grab his face and pull it down to mine. I kiss him with all the affection and fervor I can push into this kiss. I feel his chest vibrate beneath his shirt and a growl emits from deep within his throat and his arms wrap around me, pulling me closer to him.

I focus on myself.

When my eyes open again, I’m facing the mud wall of the pit, my lips still tingle though from how hard his were pressed against mine. I spot the half-eaten sandwich I had wrapped back up on the floor. I quickly grab the parcel and scoot back so I'm flush against the wall of the pit and so no one will look over and see me eating it.

Mother has a tight hold on this place. To look around it’s beautiful, but underneath it’s dark and evil. To speak out against her is treason, and this right here in the pit is a light punishment. Mother has a spell for everything.

Not long after my accident, she punished a man for taking some extra food for his pregnant wife! She took his unborn child and kept its soul to show him he should be grateful for what he is given. The poor mother ended up throwing herself in the river because the pain she felt losing her child was too much to bear.

That is the kind of person mother is. She’s cruel, with a heart blacker than the darkest night.

I eat the rest of my sandwich and drink my water, fueling myself for tonight.

I look up at the stars as I wait for Kezia to come back and we can finally make our way to freedom.