MOONSTRUCK

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

THE BEGINNING OF CHAOS

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"How do I find her?"

"When she's close, you'll know"

"How do I know if it's her?"

"The moon will guide you."

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POV(KAIA)

The bright sunlight streaming through the window made me squint, I rubbed my eyes to clear the haze. The bedspread reeked of stale beer.

I groaned, burying my head under the sheets as I tried to reach the alarm clock by my bedside table. I reached it, or maybe I flipped it over and it landed on the ground, maybe shattering into pieces. I had no idea, my eyes were closed.

I finally opened them and rubbed them violently, I pulled out my phone from my jeans pocket and checked my emails. Usually, I'd have a slew of rejections from job applications, but today there were none.

I had turned on airplane mode last night before crashing into my bed, that I remember. No idea how I got home but I do remember me drinking too much.

I got out of bed, stretching with a loud yawn before making my way to the bathroom. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and the memories from the night before came rushing back.

I had gone to the bar with Rachel, Shane and Tony, we were all drunk. If I came home myself, it's understandable. But I do remember being lifted on a shoulder, thrown on the bed.

I furrowed my brow, trying to piece together the fragments of my memories.

As I looked in the mirror, I ran my hand through my hair. I noticed a faint scratch on my neck. I had no idea where it came from.

I leaned in closer to the mirror, squinting at the dark shape on my neck. It looked like a tattoo, but I knew I didn't have one. I tried to rub it off with my towel, but it wouldn't budge. I dropped my towel, frowning at my reflection. What was this thing?

I shrugged it off, telling myself it was just a weird bruise from the night before. I didn't think much of it and got on with my day.

____

Knowing I decided to brush it off, I still wanted to know how I got home. So I threw a question at mom.

"Mum how did I get home last night? Did Shane bring me home? Or was it Tony?"

Her eyes flickered, her gaze fixed on the carrots she was chopping, she probably had no idea but she normally knew who brought me home.

" do you think... maybe a stranger brought me home?"

As soon as the words left my lips, her knife slipped, and she nicked her finger. She winced, turning to me with an awkward smile. "don't worry about it sweetie. It was probably one of the boys."

"But-"

"No buts kaia, the boys brought you home and that's it. You're overthinking and I think it's because of your hangover, drink this and you'll be fine." She said, handing me a steaming bowl of hot soup.

I gulped down the soup and faked a smile.

"Feel better?" "Much better, thanks to your hot soup."

We settled down at the dining and resumed eating, it was unusually silent and I could feel mom and dad's gaze on me.

I wanted to brush it off but I couldn't, I could only hear my munching noice, it felt unusual like they were just watching me.

I looked up and mom immediately shifted her gaze back to her food. Dad's gaze on me never wavered and that's when I realized he was staring at my neck.

"Did you get a tattoo?" Dad asked, tilting his head as if to get a better look and I rubbed the spot but it didn't feel like a tattoo, if I got it last night I should at least feel a little bit of pain.

I knew I'd just get them worried if I told them I didn't know how I got the tattoo so I just forced a smile.

"I got it last week, you guys probably didn't notice it right?" I sounded weird and dad wasn't buying it.

"There was nothing there last week kaia-" " I think I might have gotten it on Friday Dad." I lied and he leaned closer.

"Is it like a bird or what is that?" He tried to see it well with his glasses and mom slammed the table.

"for Pete's sake she's a grown woman Sean, she's not a child anymore, she can get a tattoo or whatever. Just let her be." Mom said, almost yelling. She dragged him to a corner, I couldn't hear what they talked about but I knew something was off about this morning.

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I grabbed my bag and headed out the door, The walk to work was short, and I arrived at the coffee shop just as my shift was starting.

As I clocked in and began prepping for the morning rush, my coworker, Rachel, raised an eyebrow. "Kai, what's that on your neck?"

I instinctively reached up to touch the mark, my heart skipping a beat. "Oh, um, I'm not sure," I stammered.

Rachel's eyes widened. "You got a tattoo? It looks like a half moon!"

I hesitated, unsure how to respond. "I... I don't think so?"

Rachel laughed. "Well, you must have gotten it last night and don't remember! You were pretty wasted when you left the bar."

My mind racing, I forced a laugh. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

But as I turned to start brewing coffee, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The mark on my neck seemed to stare back at me, it looked like it had been there for a long time and I had no idea.

The doorbell rang, "welco----me sir?" I paused when I realized how strange the customer looked. His gaze was fixed on me and it made me terrified.

"What are you doing girl? Go get his order!" Rachel whispered, bringing me out of my daze so I quickly put on my badge and walked to him.

He kept staring at me and that's when I realized he wasn't staring at me, he was staring at the tattoo on my neck.

"Sir, can I get your order?" I inquired, trying hard to not act weird.

He mumbled something inaudible and I felt uncomfortable, "sir, can you repeat that? I'm afraid I didn't hear th---." I tried to say and he suddenly stood up, frightening me as I held the tray over my chest.

"I Finally found you Elyxi." He murmured, enough for me to hear and then barged out of the cafe.

"What the hell was that?" Rachel bursted out laughing but it didn't seem funny to me.