She heard a knock at the door and groaned at the thought of company. The second Luna opened the door, Violet opened her mouth. “Luna, we need to talk.”
Luna’s face stayed blank but she stepped aside anyway to allow Violet to go inside. “What’s wrong?”
“Chance,” Violet replied as she strode into Luna’s kitchen.
Luna scratched her chin. “What about him?”
Violet paused, her eyes darting around the kitchen as she clasped and unclasped her hands together before her gaze finally came to rest on Luna. “I saw what he did to you today at school.”
“Wh-what do you mean, Violet?” Luna stammered, looking down at the table as she clumsily folded her arms across her chest.
“Come on, Luna! You know full well what I’m talking about,” Violet demanded. “He pinned you to the bathroom wall, he was going to hurt you!”
“That didn’t happen,” Luna said quickly. Denial.
“I was in one of the stalls, I saw the whole thing,” Violet pressed. “Why are you hiding this? This is your perfect chance to say ‘I told you so!’”
“I’m scared, Violet, that’s why!” Luna blurted out, tears brimming in her eyes. “Okay? I was terrified. Of course I don’t know why he did that. It was mental.”
“I think you do know,” Violet said, cocking her head. “What was he so angry about?”
Luna bit her lip and remained silent. That room she had seen was serious to him.
“Luna, tell me,” Violet urged gently.
“He made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone about what I saw at his house,” she whispered.
“So…you weren’t lying about that room, were you?”
Luna shook her head and lifted her hand to chew on her nails.
“What are you going to do about him? He’s clearly unstable.”
“Nothing.”
“What? Are you serious?” Violet gaped at her. “Why let this go?”
“Because no matter what I do, he won’t leave me alone. Telling someone will only make him much, much worse, I’m sure.” Luna remembered the threat in his eyes during the incident. “Besides, if my father found out, he might use it as his excuse to ship me away to Egypt.”
“I’ve seen Chance’s anger too.”
That caught Luna’s interest.
“After you turned him down, he yelled at me in the school parking lot. He has a lot of anger issues.”
Luna frowned. “Why would he yell at you?”
Violet’s pupils dilated as she shifted her weight. “Want to know why Chance won’t leave you alone?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because of me, Luna.”
Luna’s jaws parted as she stared at her. “What? Why you?”
Violet sighed. “Because I told him you liked him so he’d take you to the dance.”
“You? It was you who told him that? Why, Violet? Why would you do that to me?” Luna asked, turning away. She found herself torn between walking away and punching her friend in the jaw.
“If it helps, I saw how unhappy it made you, and I’ve been meaning to apologize.”
“It doesn’t help,” Luna retorted, leaning against the table, feeling suddenly weak.
“Luna, please don’t hate me.” Violet held her palms out as she faced her.
“I don’t know what to say to you. You know I hate him with a passion yet you set me up with him? How did you think this would make me feel?”
“I’m sorry, Luna.”
“Thanks,” Luna said bitterly, shaking her head.
“I didn’t know he’d start being violent with you.”
“It doesn’t matter, all right? I’ll handle it,” Luna snapped, reaching up a hand to cover half of her face.
“I think you should try to get some help.”
“You’ve done enough thinking for now, am I right?”
Violet opened her mouth to speak, but another knock on the door interrupted her. Luna frowned and went to answer it. On the porch, smiling at her, stood Chance. Luna let out the breath she held; it was like her thoughts had summoned him. She stared into his glittering blue eyes and felt another twinge of panic as she remembered the anger they had harbored that morning.
“What do you want?” she asked, keeping her hand on the doorknob as her shoulders slumped.
“I want to talk to David,” he replied.
She rolled her eyes. “What about?” She leaned toward him so Violet couldn’t hear her. “I didn’t say anything about your secret!”
“I wanted to tell him about your behavior in class today,” he said with a seriousness Luna could tell was fake.
She sighed. “Okay, tattle-tale, David’s not home today so you’ll have to come back later.”
“So, you’re home alone?” he asked curiously, ignoring her comment.
“Yeah, I am pretty much,” Luna stated, trying her best to seem defiant. Idly, she wondered why that had sparked his interest.
“Can I come in anyway?”
Luna groaned and raised her hand to her forehead to press against the pain steadily growing there. She slid her hand down her face before she looked at him, drawing her lips together. “Why?”
“No gags. I want to hang out a little while,” he said with the familiar ‘innocent’ voice.
“I don’t know, I’m kind of busy right now.”
He snorted. “You just said you were home alone.”
“Violet’s visiting.”
“I’m coming in anyway.”
Luna sighed again and stepped aside, just as she had for Violet. If she didn’t let him come in, he’d tell her dad later, and he wouldn’t be happy. Chance immediately took the opportunity to pass her. Luna closed the door behind him as he went to sit on the couch.
“The TV’s not even on?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I don’t watch TV,” Luna replied. “It’s the one thing that gives me headaches.” Well, not the only thing, she added silently as she glared at him.
“You are not normal at all.” He chuckled as he picked up the remote and flicked the TV on.
“That goes for you too.”
He didn’t answer her, but shifted to glare at her over his shoulder.
Luna shrugged at him in response and went back to the kitchen.
***
VIOLET’S EYES WERE as wide as saucers as she peeked around the corner to see Chance in the living room.
“You can’t let him in here after what he did to you!”
“It’s fine.”
“But I’m worried.” Violet’s wide eyes shifted back to Luna.
“Don’t be.”
“But—”
“It’s fine,” Luna cut her off. “I think you should go now.”
“Luna!”
“I need time,” Luna admitted, looking her friend full in the eyes.
Violet gave up, accepting the fact she had made a huge mistake.
“All right, I’ll go for now. But call me later?” Violet wanted to make sure leaving her tiny friend alone with Chance wouldn’t turn out to be an even bigger mistake.
Luna narrowed her eyes to slits. “Maybe, now go.”
Without another word, Violet left, wondering if that would be her biggest mistake yet.
***
CHANCE HAD BEEN surprised to see Violet, but he tried not to make that obvious to Luna. When Violet left, slowly—giving him a long, bitter glance—he had wondered what she wanted then decided he didn’t care. He flicked through the channels on Luna’s television, trying to think of what to say to her.
“So, what was Violet doing here?” he asked.
“None of your business,” Luna called from the kitchen.
Harsh. He kept flicking through the channels and finally found the news.
“Kate Red, a local high school senior, was found brutally murdered today. Though police are unwilling to release details on the death, they have reported the throat was slit and the body covered in strange marks after death,” the reporter said
. “It’s a very strange case indeed.”
Chance watched the TV in interest. They had finally found her body; he wondered if the cops would be on him later since people thought he had been such good friends with her.
Luna walked into the room and glanced at the picture of Kate. She stared at the TV in disbelief as it showed the image of a body covered in a white tarp, lying on the side of the road by the woods. Without taking her eyes off of the TV, she sat down on the couch next to Chance. He watched her and smiled a bit.
“Wasn’t she your friend?” Luna asked.
He looked back at her and sighed, the smile dropping off as quickly as it had begun. “Yeah, good ol’ Kate.”
“Doesn’t that upset you?”
“Oh, of course it does,” he said, and his voice sounded different.
The news story on Kate ended, and Luna stood up. Chance turned to look at her and noticed a dulled look in her eyes, as if she were worried about something, and he frowned. Was she thinking about Kate?
“What, you’re not going to sit and watch TV with your boyfriend?” he asked, laughter in his voice though worry filled his heart.
Luna whipped around to face him, and her knee collided with the coffee table. Wincing in pain, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Never say that again. You are not my boyfriend.”
He pretended to look hurt—though inside, he had to admit he was a little hurt. “I’m offended, Luna.”
“Who cares?” Luna muttered as she turned away from him. “You should care that your friend’s just been murdered,” she muttered as she began to limp back into the kitchen.
Chance watched her go with a tiny twinge in his stomach. She suspected something, didn’t she? He rolled his bottom lip in his teeth; he probably could’ve pulled off his act better, but he couldn’t seem to feign any care for Kate.
What Luna knew worried him.
Chapter Nineteen
IN ELIDA, MAX tossed and turned on a fitful night as his mind locked in a dream—the same dream he had had a few nights before. He crept cautiously through trees, the sky above blue and the air around him still. He hated being in the parallel universe of dreams; he had learned how dangerous it could be if you let your guard down.
He kept walking, pushing the foliage out of the way. So far, the place didn’t seem dangerous, but that didn’t offer him much comfort. All that seemed to be around him was more and more foliage. Just as he got ready to shrug off the dream as nothing and wake himself up, he came to a clearing.
He crouched down behind a bush and peered through it into the scene in the clearing. Ahead of him stood three people. Surprisingly, he saw Luna and Violet…and then the black-cloaked figure pointing a gun at both of them. As he watched, the figure approached Violet, gun raised, and he shot her point blank in the forehead. She collapsed to the ground, instantly dead. Then, it was only Luna and the figure.
He turned to her and grasped her arm, the barrel of the gun an inch away from her head. Max watched in horror, not knowing if the figure planned on shooting her or not. If he did, Luna would be dead forever. He sprang from his hiding spot, desperate to save her, and felt a sharp, hot pain radiate from his shoulder through his body.
He knew he had been shot and he felt himself sliding out of the dream and back to reality. In the blink of an eye, he was back in his own room, his shoulder surging with overwhelming pain. He got up and stumbled into the bathroom. Flicking on the light, he noticed his shoulder and white t-shirt were covered in fresh red blood. He pulled off his shirt to look at the source of the pain—a deep purple bullet wound oozing the crimson substance—and stared at it, horrified.
It was the beginning of something terrible.
Without another thought, he pulled the tweezers out of the bathroom cabinet and plunged the steel tips into his wound. He clenched his teeth as he sought out the bullet. The tweezers pinged against the metal, and he yanked it out quickly, causing more blood to well from the wound. He slammed the tweezers down onto the sink, bloody bullet and all, and turned back toward the cabinet.
Rummaging through it quickly, he searched for whatever bandages might be available. He found long strings of gauze and wrapped some of them quickly over the wound to slow the bleeding. He turned on the faucet, washed the blood off his neck and arm, then picked up the bullet out of the tweezers and twirled it in his fingers. Danger had trapped him once again, and it seemed like Luna was trapped with him this time.
Max spent the morning cleaning the bathroom of all traces of his blood and waiting for his mother to leave for work. He wasn’t planning on going to school.
The situation was far too serious.
MAX SAT ON the couch. He hadn’t bothered to put his shirt on; he’d need to keep changing the dressing every time the wound leaked more blood. He wouldn’t tell anyone about it because he knew no one would believe him when he told them how he had gotten it.
He sighed and flipped through the channels. Finally, he came across the news and watched, dumbfounded, as he saw the story about Kate’s death. First the repeating dream, and now the missing girl was dead? It was no coincidence.
Something bad was brewing.
The black-cloaked figure was behind it. That meant Luna was in serious danger. He wouldn’t put it off any more—he had to call her.
***
LUNA SAT DOWN in the nearest chair so that her back angled toward the living room. His friend had died, yet Chance hadn’t shown a trace of sorrow. The thought bothered her deeply. He had to be made of stone…or guilty. The phone rang out loudly and interrupted her thoughts. She jumped up, nearly falling over the kitchen table.
“Who is it?” Chance called from in the living room.
Luna ignored him.
“Hello?” her voice cracked into the phone.
“Hi, Luna.”
Luna gasped. On the other end of the line was one of her closest friends, Max Cazmea. Almost a year had passed since he last talked to her, and she was surprised to hear from him.
“I heard about Kate on the news,” he said.
“I know, it’s so hard to believe. I didn’t even like her, and it’s incredible,” Luna replied. “You never think anything like that could happen until it actually does.”
“I know what you mean. How are you? We haven’t talked in a long time.”
“I’m okay. There’s a headache in the other room, but that’s about it.” Her voice was weak as her mind continued to think about Kate’s murder. “What about you?”
Max ignored her question. “Are you okay? You sound ill.”
“I’m fine…just stressed out.” Luna sighed. “Ever have a person piss you off and freak you out at the same time? It’s a weird combination of feelings, trust me.”
“Who’s bothering you?” Max asked. “Want me to beat him up for you?”
Luna almost laughed; sometimes Max and Violet were one in the same.
“Remember Chance from elementary school?”
“That extremely popular one?”
“Yeah, that one,” she replied as Chance walked toward the kitchen. He stood leaning against the wall, staring at her, and she guessed he thought she had been about to spill his secret. He had been right. “He’s a nightmare.”
“That’s a harsh way to talk about me, don’t you think so, love?” Chance said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Luna growled in her throat as laughter came through the phone from Max.
“I’m sorry, but I never liked that kid.”
“Trust me, neither have I,” she agreed, glaring at Chance.
“If you hate him then what is he doing over your house?” Max inquired, sounding suspicious.
“He wanted to talk to my dad, and he let himself in.”
“Wow.” He snorted. “That pushy attitude is exactly why I never liked him.”
The thought caused Luna’s lips to curl upward. Their mutual hatred for Chance was the reason they had become friends in the first place back in elementary school. “Same here.”
“Well, besides your ‘pain,’ is anything else new?” Max asked.
“Not really, I’ve just been thinking. A lot.”
“Oh, what about?” Max suddenly sounded interested.
“A dream I’ve had a lot lately,” Luna said slowly as she watched Chance disappear back into the living room.
“How long have you been having it?”
“It’s been the same exact one for two different nights,” she replied, shrugging.
“Oh.” He sounded even more interested. “What happens in it?”
Luna considered telling him the dream, but she knew Max well, and he wasn’t the type to take things like dreams seriously.
“I’m not going to tell you,” she decided. “You’ll laugh. That’s what Violet did.”
“I promise I won’t laugh at it, now please tell me,” Max begged.
“Why is it so important to know?” Luna felt a bit wary of his eagerness to listen.
“Just tell me.”
“All right.” Luna blew a lock of hair out of her face, giving in. “Well, it starts off in this forest. I find Violet, and we wander through it for hours, but we never seem to actually find anything. Then, this guy cloaked in all black appears from out of nowhere with a gun and shoots Violet right in the head. She dies, and the guy makes me go with him, but I wake up before I actually get taken anywhere.”
Max was quiet on the other end of the line. “Is Violet okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“No reason.”
“Anyway, it’s a pretty weird dream, huh?” she prompted, hoping to get his opinion on it.
“And how many times have you had it?”
“Twice. I told you that already,” Luna replied, wondering if he had forgotten that quickly.
“Yes, I know, but specifically when did you have them?”
“Well, one was during the week and the other was on Saturday…why?” Why does it matter?
“Then no, it’s not ridiculous at all,” he said, and his voice sounded strangely calm.
“You don’t think so?” Luna drew her lips tight. She had been so sure that he would’ve sided with Violet.
“No…because I had the exact same dream.”