Keepers of the Moon

Nova 2020 C.E.

It had been two weeks.

Two weeks of running around and gathering everybody.

Two weeks of losing ground against Nordlys.

Two weeks of explaining that we needed to hide.

It didn’t go over so well at first. The girls were asking questions, they too had networks outside of our own community. They had heard things. But Ilse, Mere and I had been able to deflect most of the questions by giving them the truth, but only part of it. After more people disappeared, everybody finally started to listen. We moved underground.

Though who we were and who was after us was still a mystery to them.

I spend most days hidden in the darkness, sealing of entrances and gathering provisions. We had locked of all communication to the world above. We didn’t have a choice. This also meant that our stream of information was significantly dwindling. It was odd to be cut off from the world like that. We had no idea what was going on out there. We had no idea if Nordlys was closing in on us, or if we were safe here. But we had nowhere else to go, so the sewage became our permanent home.

I missed the bright blue skies and the buzzing of people in the street. The soft breeze through my hair and the cars whizzing past. I even missed the rain and the smelly allies. I missed the freedom. Down here the air was always foul and heavy with moisture. It was utterly dark. Our only source of light coming from little lanterns that we had to refill every few hours. Because so many of us now permanently resided here we were running out of lamp oil faster than we could get it. We had rationed it, so that we could spent a long amount of time here. This meant that we all slept in the common room.

Almost 300 of us.

It was a chaos, there was garbage everywhere. The air reeked of sweat and food that had gone off, mixed with the already penetrant odour of the sewage. Little children were constantly crying and screaming. Everybody was one edge, several fights had already broken out. There was a constant chattering and bickering about nonsense. There was barely enough space to accommodate all of us. 

We weren’t meant to spend so much time together.

Especially not that close together.

Add the overall feeling of dread and fear for our lives in that chaotic mixture and you had the ambience that now hung in the common room. I wished that I could stay off to the side, let Ilse handle all this. But she kept reeling me in. I couldn’t hide from her, there was no place where she wouldn't find me. I found out the hard way that I didn’t do well in the dark. My eyes didn’t seem to adjust very well, so I had to stay close to the lanterns to make sure I didn’t hurt myself or others.

The only upside from all this was that I could spend more time with Mere. She had helped me cut off the entrances and we had walked together through the sewers. Mostly in silence, but I felt less alone anyway. It was pleasant and it helped me to get my mind of the growing feeling of dread that had been spreading in my mind. A feeling of terrible things to come.

Two weeks.

In total darkness.

We would have to live through this for so much longer.

Or so I thought.

The day had started out normal. A few girls were bickering about whose pillow was whose, they woke me up. I threw an half-eaten apple at their faces and then dressed Abi. Her skin was paler than usual, now that she hadn’t seen the sun for a few days it almost looked like she was made out of paper. She was asking when we could go out again. The question hurt. She shouldn't be down here, I would only pull her into danger. But she wouldn't survive on her own out there. She needed me. And the only way I could be there for her, was for her to stay right here by my side.

‘We can’t sweetie. It’s not safe. But when it is! We’re going swimming, I promise.’ Even though I heard the lie in my own voice Abi was satisfied with that prospect. She nibbled on some smelly sandwich and then went off to play with Ariana’s daughter. Her mind already focussed on other matters than the future. In the corner of my eyes I saw Mere walking toward me and I stood up. Unconsciously I strengthened my hair and pulled my jumper straight. She was looking as pretty as ever, though her eyes now usually betrayed sorrow. She nudged for me to follow her. He mouth was drawn into a thin line. There was something wrong.

With a growing tension in my shoulders I stepped over the sleeping bodies. Most of the lanterns had died out during the night and I kept stepping on loose lying limbs. Some cursed at me, others just murmured and slept on. I heard Mere snicker and she grabbed my hand.

‘You’re hopeless.’

I huffed and grabbed the hem of her shirt with my other hand as we descended into a dark corridor. Only now I felt really how tense she was and how irregular her heartbeat sounded.

‘What’s wrong?’ My voice echoed into the darkness. Mere froze for a second as she had not expected this question.

‘Just follow me.’