Loving His Broken Luna

Chapter 46

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Renee

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It’s been a solid week since Mr. Nelwin had given his assignment and she still hasn’t gotten up the nerve to go into the auto shop. It wasn’t like she couldn’t. Jason wasn’t groping her for her past as he had. He kept his distance, aside from the occasional side step, offering food here and there.

She could have gone in but a wave of shyness seemed to attack her at every advancement. Blessedly, Jason didn’t tease her for it.

Renee frowned at her recent memory, trying to overcome breaching the threshold. It almost felt like a place she could not go, as if it was purposely keeping her out.

This time, she stood in front of the grungy doorway, inspecting the oil-tarnished entrance well after dark. It became her only focus. With nowhere else to go and her heart set on righting a horrible wrong, Renee settled at her knees, old rag in hand, taken from the lost in found.

With the aid of a handful of soap pads stolen from the faculty’s room, Renee rubbed the two together.

“We’re going to sort this out,” she murmured to the door frame. “You’re going to let me in.”

Applying the soapy rag to the unclean surface seemed to do nothing, not initially. Renee frowned. In a place like Iridescent Valley, she’d think at least some of her intuitions were correct.

This one though? This one didn’t burn or scar her. It just… remained. It remained a place she was blind to. It remained a place she couldn't attempt. And so she scrubbed the exterior.

Renee worked diligently into the night, respectively giving attention to corners as if they had the power to work against her too.

By the fade of her energy, early in the morning, where the night refused to give in to dawn, Renee could see. The darkness that crowded her peripheral vision thinned.

“What are you doing?” sounded off behind her.

Renee suppressed her yelp, sending it far back in her throat to do so.

Her eyes went wide.

… She hated this feeling; being caught.

… It raged war within her system, ready to force a shut down.

“I–I need in,” Renee answered truthfully.

The being rounded her way around Renee to take a good look.

The sight of her black angled bob hairstyle, revealing her curved, pale blue cheeks, told Renee exactly who she was dealing with.

Not many over accentuated their vampiric bite but Percilla wore it proudly. Once she told her the mark was to remind other species who they were messing with. Her history being one is a history past those of other immortal species. One that she would gladly maim thrill seekers over, just for the pure joy of watching their soul leave their bodies.

It was a mystery interspecies coupling wasn’t a thing yet.

“At 3:00am?” Percilla questioned, unable to take Renee’s need seriously.

“Ye–,” Renee began, only to be stopped again.

“What is that smell?” she asked, perplexed.

Renee inhaled in response, trying to find the offending issue.

“I don’t smell it,” she shook her head, looking at Percilla. “It’s not the soap or grime right?”

Percilla shook her head, following her nose, clearly on the hunt. She inhaled in front of the door,in the corners and along the frame. She stepped in as if the barrier didn’t exist, still trying to pinpoint the offending odor.

“Unless it’s you,” Percilla’s eyes fell to slits, contemplating just what was going on.

“How would it be me? I’m literally wearing soap.”

The stretch of her smile burrowed its way underneath Renee’s skin.

Okay, sure, walking away seemed like the only rational thing to do to a person… not another species, so Renee waited.

Percilla’s curiosity spiked, her eyes dilated, the closer she came. Practically face to face, with mere inches between them, Percilla rounded Renee with similar scrutiny that Renee had given the door.

“You’re ripe,” she replied, without emotion.

It was an accusation.

Renee turned to follow Percilla, spinning around once in place.

“What does that even mean?” she asked, trying to keep the edge out of her question.

“You can’t tell me that you don’t know you’ve been wearing the same clothes for weeks,” Pe sneered, as if Renee backhanded her.

…oh, that.

Her frown deepened in thought.

“You don’t fool us, you know,” Pe continued.

“Fool us?” Renee asked, unsure of where the vampire was going with her intervention.

… Was there a need for this?

… Did she mean her entire species?

“Don’t play dumb, Rey. Typical humans can do that, but not you.”

“Thanks?” Renee replied.

Percilla ran her fingers through her dark hair, pulling it back and away from her pailing irises.

If it was considered an act of dominance, she should really sit in on a fight at home. Percilla styling her hair and glaring back at Renee really wasn’t terrifying. Her mother doing the same, on the other hand? Yeah…

“I’m just trying to get started on my project,” she deflected.

“By cleaning a doorway?”

Renee sighed then dropped her head back, looking up at the ceiling.

“Yeah,” came her exasperated exhale.

“Why?” Percilla questioned, her tone clipped.

Renee frowned once more, in thought.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked. “Did you make the mess? Is it art? Your mark?” Renee countered, unable to hit the breaks.

Perhaps it had everything to do with her counterpart, but for the most part her exhaustion finally caught up to her. Renee’s eyes squeezed tightly shut while she yawned deeply in the vampire’s face.

“Sorry,” she nearly howled, trying to control the spasm.

“I think you should get some rest,” Percilla began as if it was a challenge.

Renee swallowed the pit left in her throat from the last yawn before assuring the vampire she had too much to do.

“Uh huh. And what’s that?”

“Pe, I’m answering you out of respect but not much more,” Renee finally broke. “Just because I’m younger than you doesn’t mean I don’t have verifiable reasons to do what I set off to do.”

With that, Renee forced her way forward. She’d cross the threshold. She’d get past what was holding her back.

Renee exhaled as her foot crossed the threshold, propelling her forward only to hit an invisible barrier.

“What the fvck!?” Renee hollered, spooking even Percilla enough to jump beside her.

“What?” she questioned softly. “A barrier?”

“I swear to gods if you mock me…” Renee spat bitterly.

“...I –”

“Vampires don’t play with magic,” Renee recounted basic knowledge from primary school. “Old word werewolves had a connection to their goddess’ power but that was severed…”

Percilla watched Renee like a hawk. In truth, Renee couldn’t be bothered with another person while trying to figure this out. She pressed on the invisible barrier, finding a jagged, barely reachable texture underneath.

“Jason,” she let his name roll off of her tongue like he belonged to her.

… He did in a way.

… Perhaps she should have done it like this to begin with, she thought.

“Blood under the bridge,” Renee muttered to herself.

Jason huffed as he appeared beside her.

“If the Cleric Caverns shift regularly, does a portal move with it?” she asked carefully, making sure to pronounce each syllable clearly.

Jason stared at her, unwilling to make a sound.

“Percilla doesn’t care,” Renee refused to look at the woman now.

“Excuse you?”

Jason stayed quiet.

“You only care that I don’t belong here,” Renee stood up for herself.

Renee rolled her shoulders back with each comment. She felt her spine stacking once more, knowing that this was a task worth fighting for.

“I didn’t say that,” Percilla growled.

“You didn’t have to,” Renee ran her palm over the space in the doorway, searching for a way through.

“Then how can you accuse me?”

“Do your own recount,” Renee focused on her task. “Jason, your answer?”

“This has blackmail all over it,” Jason replied.

“What?” Percilla questioned, her eyes darting between the two of them.

“I’m not having it in layers,” Jason warned.

“Fine. Fine… Fine,” Renee sighed heavily. “Pe, can you get outta here? I need to have a real conversation with my demon.”

Percilla angrily crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Not until I get what I came for,” she spouted.

“Uh huh. And what was that? Gossip?” Renee challenged.

“The truth,” she pushed.