Luna noted the tiny smile on his face. She ripped her hand away from his. “You told her I was crazy, and you knew damn well she’d believe you.”
“I protect myself however I see fit,” he replied, slamming his palm to the table. “You can’t blame me for that.”
“Protect yourself from what? Nobody’s doing anything to you.”
“You and Violet were far too close in opinion. I simply added some input,” he said, shrugging again as he folded his arms, placing his elbows on the table.
“Thanks to you, I don’t have my best friend anymore!” Luna accused, moving away on the hard, plastic chair.
“Thanks to me? This isn’t my fault. It’s yours for having a big mouth.” He snorted. “If you would keep quiet, things wouldn’t get so bad.”
“It is your fault,” she growled at him as she stood up.
Luna didn’t want to listen to him anymore. He had purposefully used his charm to drive a wedge between Violet and her, and he had been successful in doing so. He tried to do the same thing to stop her from talking to Max.
He thought that if she had none of her friends left to support her, she’d be weak, possibly more willing to help him. He could take all her friends, and her family, and that would never happen.
She would never willingly help him.
“You’ll always have me,” he called out from his spot at the table as he watched her go.
She shuddered at the thought as she left the cafeteria far behind her.
***
CHANCE SIGHED AND turned back to the table after Luna disappeared from sight. She was upset with him, and the longer it took to work his plan, the more she seemed to hate him.
It wouldn’t be a problem when his fusion finished.
His eyes caught with Violet’s across the room. She stared back down at her plate, but Chance didn’t look away. He narrowed his eyes at the side of her head. She had been watching them. Even with his threat, she wasn’t minding her own business. He plunged his hand into the pocket with his dagger and ran his finger down the edge of the blade. When his fusion was done, he wouldn’t have to worry about Violet anymore.
He’d finally be able to take care of all of his problems, her included.
***
LUNA THREW HER books into her checkered backpack and gratefully got up from her seat, glad for the end of the day. She left the building, took in a deep breath of fresh air, and started to walk home when a red car pulled up beside her. She looked at it curiously. Amy sat in the driver’s seat and rolled down her window.
“Want a ride?” she offered.
Luna thought about it for a minute. She wondered if it was a good idea. She knew Amy might question her about why Chance had been the one to take her home. She watched her calmly, waiting for an answer. Amy’s energetic attitude might cheer her up, and after all, she was a friend. So what if she asked about Chance? She just asked what half of the school wondered anyway.
“Okay,” Luna agreed finally.
Amy smiled at her as she climbed into the passenger seat. “You look pretty stressed. Are things going okay at home?”
“They’re okay,” she replied.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, I think.”
“Are you sure?” Amy prompted. “I saw you eating lunch with Chance today, and I remember he picked you up from my house the other day. What’s going on with him?”
Luna winced at her words. How could she explain to her what had happened between her and Chance? If she even attempted to then she might let Chance’s secrets slip on accident. What if he ended up hurting her because she knew?
“I do hate Chance, I just…” Luna furrowed her brow.
There was no way she could even try to get her to understand.
“You don’t want him to make the preps hate you?” Amy guessed. “I understand what you mean.”
“Yeah, and it’s just that my dad really likes him and wants me to try dating him. He never listens when I tell him I don’t like him,” she said with an irritated twitch of her lip. “That’s why I ran away. I didn’t think he’d have Chance come and get me since he was the source of the problem.”
“That sounds like a handful,” Amy replied, shaking her head. “I hope you get him to realize you don’t care about Chance that way.”
Luna sighed, running her nails across her chin. “Yeah, so do I.”
“I also noticed you haven’t been talking to Violet as much as you used to,” Amy commented.
“Yeah, that’s because she’s been…busy,” Luna said, trying to invent an excuse for Violet’s difficulties.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that.”
Luna ruffled her black hair, wishing she hadn’t gotten into the car after all. It seemed as if Amy touched down on all the sensitive issues in Luna’s life like labeled buttons. “It’s okay, really.”
The car slowed to a halt and Luna looked out the window, recognizing her yard beyond. “Thanks for the ride, Amy,” she said as she opened the door.
“No problem.”
“See you at school tomorrow.” Luna closed the door.
Amy nodded and drove away. Sighing, Luna walked toward her house. She froze in her tracks when she reached the edge of her lawn. Sitting on her porch in the shadows was Chance, and he stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
As she glared back at him, he stood up and walked toward her. His face remained blank, making it impossible to try to guess his thoughts. He stopped in front of her, and neither of them spoke for a long moment.
“What are you doing here?” Luna asked, exasperated. She regarded him through wary and tired eyes. It didn’t matter what she did anymore, she couldn’t avoid him.
“I wanted to see if you were okay…you left the cafeteria in such a hurry that I didn’t have the chance to ask you,” he answered.
She narrowed her eyes at him. Was he actually trying to use his charm on her?
“We have fourth hour together, but you said nothing to me then. If you were so concerned you would’ve asked me already.”
He looked away for a minute before his gaze returned to her. “I take it you’re not okay.”
“I was pissed. Of course I’m not okay.”
Chance stared at her for a moment without speaking, and his eyes looked blank once again. She was amazed she had lived to see the day.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally.
Luna’s jaw dropped. She scrunched up her eyebrows as she tried to decide if he had said that or not.
“What?”
He shook his head like he didn’t want to answer her. Without another word, he walked away with long, quick strides. She frowned as she stared after him. That hadn’t been like Chance at all. What if he had meant his apology? What was he sorry for? Was it an act to lure her into a false security?
Luna shook her head. I’m imagining this.
There was no other way it had happened.
Chapter Forty-Three
WHEN CHANCE GOT home, he didn’t feel like himself, in either of his two minds. He felt angry and for no real reason. He found himself full of road rage on the way home. When he stepped through the door of his house, his hand tightened on his knife and he pulled it from his pocket, tearing his pants a bit, and stabbed the couch. The ripping sensation was satisfying—not satisfying enough though. He missed the feeling of the knife ripping through flesh.
He could remember back to his two recent murders. The pure adrenaline was amazing; he hadn’t had that satisfaction in too long. It overwhelmed him.
He needed to kill again.
***
CLEARING HER HEAD of all thoughts of Chance, Luna walked up to her house. As she stepped into the kitchen, she looked at the phone. She wanted to call Max and tell him what she knew, but part of her worried about what Chance would do to him. He seemed to know everything she did, and since he already hated Max, that never helped.
Luna swallowed her doubts; what was she thinking? Was she
actually scared? She had never listened to a word Chance had said in his life, why did she care so much about that promise? She hadn’t even cared about the first one.
Because you’re afraid of him, a small voice whispered in her mind.
She frowned at it. She couldn’t decide if it was right or not. What did it matter either way? Max was her ally, and Chance her enemy. She needed to forget the consequences. For all she knew, things could turn out even worse if she didn’t tell Max.
Luna crossed the kitchen to her phone, picked it up, and dialed Max’s number. It rang a few times, but she received no answer. Her frown deepened as she stared at the phone in her hand. Had Chance finally gotten his wish?
***
TWO DAYS PASSED, and Luna hadn’t been able to reach Max once though she had called him every time she had the opportunity. During those days, Chance hardly said a word to her at school, like he avoided her. He seemed oddly withdrawn. He had only stayed for first hour and skipped the rest of the day. She wondered what was on his mind.
Luna sighed as she searched her locker once again in case she forgot something. She closed the door and slung her backpack over her shoulder as she walked down the hall. She passed a couple groups of popular kids who whispered among themselves, but when she passed them, they went quiet instantly. She wondered if their gossip involved Chance.
She cast her eyes to the ground, avoiding the other students. What happened to her? She never used to notice what the other kids did, but that was all that was ever on her mind now. She emerged into the warmth of outside and took a few steps to try to clear her mind. Max leaned against a tree trunk a few feet away from the door. As soon as she saw him, she ran up to him, relief flooding through her so suddenly that she felt tempted to give him a hug.
“Hey, you’re okay,” he greeted as he stood up.
“I could say the same to you,” Luna said blankly. Her rush of excitement seemed to cancel the worry that occupied her mind only moments prior.
Max had a bandage across his throat, but beside that, he seemed as well as ever. She didn’t know what she had been expecting when she saw him, but she was glad he looked well. “Where’ve you been? I’ve been calling you.”
“Oh, I’ve been getting shipped between hospitals for my treatment,” he said with a shrug. “I haven’t been near a phone in forever.”
“Are you okay now?” she asked, tilting her head as they walked away from the school.
He nodded. “The wound healed up as well as any.”
“Good.”
Max looked at her and frowned. “Yeah, but are you okay? I remember you said you jumped out of Chance’s truck. You had to have broken something.”
“Actually, I didn’t get hurt at all,” Luna murmured with a quick glance down her body. With everything taking place, she hadn’t had had a solid moment to reflect on it until then.
Max narrowed his eyes, his mouth parting slightly like he wanted to speak before he closed it again, eyeing her as if he suddenly didn’t know her. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with you?”
“It was like something protected you from the fall,” he mused, running a finger across his chin.
Luna didn’t answer him as she bit her lip.
“Is something bothering you?”
Uncertain about mentioning the topic that burned a spot in her mind, Luna finally just said it. “It’s Chance again.” She bit her lip once more.
Max snorted and a small chuckle passed his lips. “No surprise there.”
“He made me promise to not tell anyone about Susan’s hair ribbon.”
“And why do you care?” he asked, drawing his eyebrows together as he reached up to scratch at the corner of his bandage.
“Because this time he said he’d kill me if I told anyone,” she murmured, the words almost sticking in her throat. “And we know very well he’s completely capable of it.”
Max scratched his ear. “He’s just trying to scare you. He won’t kill you.”
She looked at him, pursing her lips. “How do you know?”
“Think about it. If he wanted to kill you, wouldn’t he have done it already instead of keeping you there to see his crimes?” Max asked.
Luna rubbed her palm to the chest of her shirt, grazing the wound underneath that Chance had left with his sword. “I guess you’re right.”
“He needs you for something,” Max reminded her.
“He said I have a gift.”
“A gift?” He scrunched up his forehead. “What kind of gift?”
“I don’t know, he wouldn’t tell me,” Luna replied honestly, narrowing her eyes as the scene replayed in her head.
“That’s weird…” Max trailed off. “Why would he keep something from you now, after he’s let you know everything about him?”
“I don’t know, but Violet’s sure I’m crazy,” she said, sticking her tongue in her cheek. “We lost an ally.”
“I’m not sure she was much help anyway, but how did that happen?”
“Chance went over her house and convinced her that I’m the one with the problem. And of course she believed him, because she can’t get over how she feels about him,” she explained, rolling her eyes.
Max frowned. “Oh well, at least she wasn’t important to the dream.”
They heard a loud creaking sound, and a black truck drove by slowly. She looked right into Chance’s gaze as he stared through the window, narrowing his eyes at her. He turned back to the road and sped away as fast as he could. Luna had the feeling whatever had been on his mind had gone at the sight of her with Max. She suddenly remembered that he left earlier which meant he had come back to the school for a specific reason—for her?
A tear dripped from her eye again as her gaze darted away from him. Max studied her for a minute before he spoke. “Are you sad he drove away?” he asked, looking at the lone tear on her face.
Luna wiped it away. “No, it did it by itself.”
Max stopped walking and stared at her with a light in his eyes. “I think I figured out why Chance wants you.”
Luna stopped walking as well and turned to face him, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. “Why?”
“He was right about you, you do have a gift,” he said, breathing in through his teeth, “and it’s a very rare one.”
“I do?” she inquired, her eyebrows shooting upward in disbelief.
“Have you ever heard of the Teardrop of Knowledge?”
She shook her head. “What is it?”
“It’s an ability that lets you subconsciously connect to DreamWorld while you’re awake. When your eye runs, it means something bad is about to happen that will affect you,” he said. “It could be pretty useful to us in plotting out what moves we should take next.”
“How is it helpful to Chance?”
“There’s more to it. With the Teardrop of Knowledge, Dimensional Theft is made much, much simpler,” he explained. “That’s why Chance wants you. He knows you have that ability, and he wants it for something. The only question is…what?”
Luna thought back to the night she had gone on a date with Chance. It had been a while ago, and her memory blurred all the details. He had told her there was something different about her, but he hadn’t been willing to tell her what—he was a lot more knowledgeable about DreamWorld than she would’ve ever guessed.
***
WHEN LUNA CLOSED her eyes to go to sleep for those two nights, she found it harder than she had thought. She drifted into a semiconscious state, so light it could barely be considered sleep. She tossed and turned most of the night, and when she woke up in the morning, she was more tired than when she had gone to bed the previous night. To her, it could only mean one thing—something was wrong in DreamWorld.
***
“CHANCE KILLED SOMEONE in front of you and threatened to kill you if you didn’t help him?” Max asked incredulously. “Did I hear that right?”
Luna had been confused about the dreamless nights so s
he called Max to ask him about it.
“Yeah,” she murmured, clutching the phone tighter to her face.
“When was this?”
“When he told me I had a gift.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” he prompted. His tone was calm, but it was a calm she recognized—his face would show anger if she could see it in that moment.
“No, I didn’t think it was important,” she answered, pacing a few feet away.
“Then why would you bring it up now?”
“Last night, I couldn’t sleep, and I think there’s something wrong…well, more wrong than usual…in DreamWorld.” Luna twirled her finger in the spiral cord of the landline.
Max was quiet for a minute before he spoke. “Do you know why he does sacrifices?”
“It’s for some kind of power. Right?”
“It’s why he killed that person in the dreams, and maybe Susan too. He’s getting stronger. A lot stronger. And that’s definitely not good news.”
“What happens if he gets too much power?” Luna whispered, digging her nails into her palm as she waited for his answer.
“Then, if he fuses, he’ll be unstoppable in the real world.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” she breathed, lolling her head on her shoulders to stare up at the ceiling.
He snorted. “Trust me, it’s not. It could mix the dimensions and cause the end of the world as we know it.”
“That severe? He wants me to sacrifice people too,” she said meekly. “Why, if he’s already unstoppable?”
“I’m not entirely sure the reason behind it, but I might be able to explain it,” Max said, pausing to most likely gather his thoughts. “If Chance has power then he’s like a king…right?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, plopping down into the kitchen chair as she wondered where this analogy was headed. “Maybe.”
“Just work with me here. Is it true or not?” he demanded, losing patience in her.
“It’s true.”
“Well, every king needs a queen to support him. He wants you to sacrifice people so you get as strong as him. Then, you can help him as an equal.”
“It makes sense when you say it like that…but why’d it have to be me?” Luna asked, her voice faint.
“Like I said, the Teardrop of Knowledge is a rare gift. It’s why he won’t let you go,” Max offered. “You’re probably the only one around who has it.”