He smiled, hoping that maybe he had finally interested her after all. “Why do you want to know?”
“It’s amazing,” Luna said. She flinched; she must have realized she had complimented him.
“If I told you then I’d have to kill you.” He meant every word as he smiled at her sweetly. He handed the money to the waiter, who thanked him for the tip, and Chance stood up. Luna followed him out the door and into the still night air.
***
“IT’LL BE A while until we get home now, won’t it?” she asked him.
“Yeah, probably,” he replied.
Luna sighed. “Great.”
“Shh….” he said, and his attention flicked away from her. “I hear something.”
She froze, not hearing anything out of the ordinary. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer her as he crept over to the street. Luna followed him, curious to see what he was doing. She heard a soft shrieking sound and realized something was in pain. Chance stood next to a small bird whose right wing had been torn to ribbons.
“What do we do?” Luna asked, full of emotion as she peered at the bird. The corners of her lips were drawn into a slight frown, her hair shielding half her face from view.
“Only one thing to do.” He lifted his heavy black boot, which he swiftly brought down on the bird’s head.
With a sickening crunch, its cries of pain stopped. Chance pulled his foot away and turned to go back toward the valet without a word.
Luna felt a tear run down her face again. She stared at the bloody mess—all that remained of the bird. It was easy to see in his every action that killing didn’t bother him in the least.
Chapter Nine
THEY WERE STILL driving.
An hour had gone by, and Luna thought idly that maybe Chance had gotten lost. An “accident” on his part. She sighed at the thought as she looked out the window. Things started to look familiar, and she suppressed a silent cheer at the thought of being close to home.
She hadn’t spoken since he had killed that bird, and he hadn’t either. Being a hunter, killing wasn’t news to him—or to her—but actually seeing it made it a lot worse.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He kept his eyes firmly on the road, and they didn’t stray once. His shaggy silver-blond hair was swept out of his face and every few seconds, his eyes flashed in the passing streetlights. He looked like a stone-cold killer. The thought made Luna wonder of what he was capable. She shuddered and tried to curl herself closer to the window, away from him. In a few minutes, she’d be home, and it would all be an unpleasant memory.
She twined her fingers to distract herself. All she had to do was survive until she got home. She felt the truck slow and peered out the window to recognize the street beyond. She rejoiced at the thought of being home. She opened the door as quickly as possible and climbed out. Behind her, Chance hadn’t gotten out. She glanced at him over her shoulder to see his face as blank as it had been hours ago. Had he noticed she left?
“Hey!” he called, turning to look at her.
Luna winced at the sound of his voice before she faced him. “Yeah?”
“You’re not gonna give me a good night kiss?” he teased.
Luna groaned and continued walking toward her house; so much for the silence.
“Before you judge me, just know sometimes killing is necessary,” he called out the window, and without waiting for a response, sped off into the night.
Luna spun around to stare at his ink black truck in horror, wondering if he had really spoken those words.
***
LUNA WENT INSIDE the house, walked into the kitchen, and headed toward the refrigerator. Pulling out a gallon of water, she took a sip from it before she put it back. The tension in her shoulders began to ease as she looked around the comforts of her home.
“Aren’t you going to tell me how it went?” her father called from his usual spot in the living room.
Luna frowned at the sound of his voice. Why did it matter? She did as she was ordered, shouldn’t that be enough?
“Yeah, it was a long drive to some fancy place, we ate, he killed a bird, and we came home.” She stomped over to the table. “Nothing worth discussing.”
“Did I hear you say he killed something?” he called.
“Yeah, some injured bird,” Luna said, peeking at him from the kitchen doorway.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” he said, ignoring her agitation.
“I’m just glad the whole thing’s over and done with.” Luna settled into a kitchen chair to peel off her shoes.
“Now, Luna, is that any way to act after someone takes you out to eat?”
Luna tilted her head on her shoulders. You have to be kidding me. “No, it’s not.”
In the other room, she heard the squeak of the couch springs as her father stood up, and she guessed he wasn’t through chastising her yet. He appeared in the kitchen, arms folded across his chest and eyebrows pinched in deep concentration.
“You should be nicer to him from now on,” he scolded. “He’s really going out of his way.”
“Yeah, I’ll remember that.” Nothing he said could ever get her to be nice to Chance.
“Good.”
He returned to the living room to sit back down in front of the TV. They fell silent, and she stared absently at the wall, glad for the solitude. She considered going to bed and putting the horrid day to rest; what else was there to do?
“Luna, doesn’t she go to your school?” her father called, breaking into her thoughts.
What is he talking about? She got up and stepped into the darkened living room. The news was on and a picture of Kate Red lit up the screen. Luna stared in disbelief.
“…yeah, she does,” Luna finally answered him, not taking her eyes off the screen as she remembered that Kate had insulted her the other day.
“Well, she’s missing. Says she’s been missing since yesterday,” her dad said, scrunching up his eyebrows again as he squinted at the TV.
She had seen Kate just yesterday, but now she was gone. Luna blinked as she remembered the girl had been a friend of Chance’s. Did he know about Kate’s disappearance? She frowned as she thought of Susan; she had seemed rather indifferent too.
Luna turned away from the TV and the picture of her lost classmate. What did it matter to her what happened to Kate? She had been nothing but cruel.
“That’s too bad,” Luna mumbled and went back into the kitchen.
Kate was okay, she felt sure of it. Luna had heard rumors before that, once, Kate had run away to be with a guy and this time might be no different. She hated her anyway. Maybe school tomorrow wouldn’t be so bad with Kate and her taunts gone for the day.
***
MILES AWAY IN Elida, Ohio, Max Cazmea surfed through hundreds of channels of boring material. He was Luna’s age, though unlike her, he was big and mean. Similar to Luna, however, he didn’t have many friends. He had at one time in the past been friends with her, but complications had caused him to move away from Lima.
He flicked through the channels, uninterested until he stumbled across a certain one. The news. In particular, the story about Kate Red. He watched in quiet disbelief. Someone from his old high school—so close to his old home and Luna’s current one—had disappeared. Someone he had seen every day when he had been in elementary school had vanished into complete nothingness. He couldn’t believe it—it could’ve easily been Luna.
Hoping she was okay, he fought the urge to call her. He went to stand up but stopped himself. They hadn’t talked in such a long time…he could almost guarantee she wouldn’t want to talk to him. Scoffing to himself, he settled back against the couch. He was being ridiculous…he was too shaken up to fully realize that yet.
She would be better off without him jumping back into her life. That was what had caused the problems before. She was fine, he was sure. Though small, Luna was a tough girl. She’d defend herself. Whatever had happened to Kate wouldn’t ha
ppen to her.
She would be okay…she would be okay…
***
WHEN LUNA STEPPED foot into the kitchen again, the phone rang out. She stared at it for a moment before jumping up to answer it.
“Hello?” Luna said.
“Hi, Luna,” Violet’s voice replied on the other end of the line.
Luna stiffened…Violet never called her.
“Hey, I heard you skipped class today,” Violet said. “Is that true?”
“Yeah, Susan and her friends convinced me to go dress shopping for the dance.”
“And you actually cut school to be with them? This is unbelievable!”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t really have much of a choice. I was sure they’d make me go with them no matter what.” Luna yawned as she remembered the threatening formation they had held while facing her.
“So, does that mean you’re going to the dance after all?” Violet asked. “That means you like Chance, doesn’t it?”
“No, it doesn’t, and I have to go, remember? Dad ordered me to do it,” Luna said, tapping her fingers on the counter she leaned against.
“Yeah, but knowing you, I would’ve thought you would come up with a brilliant excuse to get out of it by then.”
“Trust me, I would’ve tried something, but my dad said he wouldn’t listen to any excuses,” Luna reminded her, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling.
“Your dad knows you. Cheer up. I’m sure you’ll have fun with Chance if you stop being so negative about him all the time,” Violet offered.
“Easier said than done.”
“How was your date?” Violet wondered. “What’d you two do?”
“Geez, Violet, I just walked through the door less than five minutes ago,” Luna said, rubbing the back of her neck as she threw the hair accessory onto the table. “What, are you spying on me?”
“No, I just have incredible timing it seems. So, how was it?” Violet asked again.
“Well, we went to a fancy place and ate dinner, he killed a bird, and we went home,” Luna said, sighing as she vowed not to tell the story again.
“Killed a bird? In front of you?” Violet said each word slowly as if it were the first time she had heard them.
“Yes. It had a broken wing…but it didn’t seem right,” Luna pouted, blinking to keep the tear from running down her face again at the thought.
“What? Would you have wanted it to suffer?” Violet retorted. “Chance did it a kindness!”
Luna felt her shoulders slump. Was she the only one that saw a problem with what he had done?
“So what fancy place did he take you to?” Violet asked, immediately jumping on the opportunity to change the subject at Luna’s silence.
Luna looked at the phone before she answered her. “I don’t know…it had a valet and everything, does it really matter?”
“Yes, it matters to me, and I want to know.”
“Then why not ask him,” Luna snorted, picturing it in her mind.
“I just might do that.”
“I don’t see the big deal.”
“Okay, what’s with the attitude?” Violet said. “You can’t tell me the whole evening was bad.”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. He was weird tonight…even by his standards.” Luna crunched her forehead in thought as she remembered Chance’s face at dinner.
“What did he do that was so weird? Talk?”
“Just staring for minutes at a time without saying anything or blinking,” Luna replied. “It was almost like he was zoning out.”
“Did you guys kiss?”
“Ew. No, we didn’t.” Luna pinched the bridge of her nose. “Violet, I’m being serious. I really think there was something wrong.”
“It’s too bad you two didn’t,” she cooed.
“Violet, you’re not listening, it was really weird!” Luna swung her hand out in desperation, glad her friend couldn’t see the verge of the tantrum she was on. Her voice raised an octave, and she winced, hoping her father hadn’t been able to hear her.
“According to you, he’s always weird.”
“Not this weird…it’s like he had something on his mind. Something was bothering him, and he couldn’t seem to clear his mind of it,” Luna said slowly, the image of Chance’s stoic face still in her mind.
On the other end of the line, Violet fell silent, and Luna knew she was done arguing about him.
Luna drew in a long breath. “Why did you call me anyway?”
“Just to talk, I guess.” Violet trailed off. “I got really bored watching my brother. Hey, did you hear about Kate on the news?”
“Yeah, I did. It said she was missing. I wonder what happened to her,” Luna said, not meaning it.
“I don’t know.” Violet sounded almost mystified. “It’s so strange. Did Chance seem upset about it or anything?”
“Maybe that’s what he was being weird about!” Luna blurted out, freezing as the pieces clicked in her mind.
“Why would he act weird over that? He’d be upset that she’s missing, not acting like a total weirdo.”
“If he had something to do with it then it might be hard for him to shrug it off,” Luna pointed out, her eyes darting around the kitchen.
Violet snorted. “Whatever.” Luna could tell by her tone she had rolled her eyes when she said it.
“Well, I’ve had a rough day, and I want to go to bed so I’ll see you tomorrow,” Luna announced stiffly, tired of Violet shooting down her thoughts to defend Chance. Didn’t she realize that Chance couldn’t hear her?
“All right, fine,” she agreed. “I’ll try to come up with a good joke by then.”
Luna ground her teeth. “Bye.” She hung up the phone without waiting for Violet to reply.
A frown embedded itself in Luna’s face as she walked toward her room.
Nobody is as perfect as he tries to seem.
She thought about what Violet had said—why hadn’t Chance been upset about Kate? Surely he would’ve known she was missing. Susan hadn’t been upset either. Was it possible that Chance did know something about her disappearance and had slyly made their date an alibi to his crime?
Chapter Ten
FINALLY, THE CREEPY trees surrounding Chance’s house came into view. He pulled the Honda Ridgeline to a halt in his favorite place amongst them. It wouldn’t be seen there, which was fine since he’d draw unwanted attention if it was.
Realtors hadn’t bothered to try to fix up the abandoned house and sell it because its rumored violent hauntings kept everyone away. Everyone but Chance…he was far scarier than any ghost could be. He was real, and he was a monster.
He had to live there after the “mysterious” disappearance of his parents. The town hadn’t thought anything of it. People went missing all the time. He had killed them in cold blood; the town didn’t know that part. They merely thought grief-stricken, popular-boy Chance had gone off to live with a relative to avoid being put into an orphanage.
The town did learn, of course, that his parents’ deaths had been no accident; they had been found hanging upside down from a tree—with a rope binding their feet to the branch—slit open from their chins down their torsos with their wrists and throats cut, forever staining the woods there crimson with blood. The townsfolk had never been able to trace the gruesome murders back to Chance, but rather, they had kept them away from the public to prevent panic.
That was fine by him.
He sighed and climbed out of his truck, crossing the overgrown field toward the old rundown house. He stepped up onto the creaky porch and pushed his way inside. It was dark—the way he usually left it to prevent any suspicion. He crossed the room without stumbling once. He knew his route through by heart. Plopping down onto the couch, he closed his eyes.
His mind wandered, and he thought of the tear running down Luna’s cheek. She had the ability, and he was sure she didn’t even know it herself. He needed her bad, and intuition welled within him that he couldn’t
have her. In the back of his mind were flashes, brief memories of a roaring fire and a bloodstained gown. He bit his lip so hard he drew a drop of blood—the only way to change his train of thought.
He focused again on the tear that had stained Luna’s face. Her ability would give him the chance to completely change his life around. She wouldn’t use it on him willingly, though. That much was obvious. But he was used to getting his own way, and he would with this as well. He knew the rules of DreamWorld perfectly, and she didn’t. Most normal people didn’t have an understanding of the parallel world he had learned to walk among perfectly.
In Luna’s dreams, he could keep a steady eye on her, and her ability, and maybe channel it for himself. It would be difficult to stalk her that way, but definitely not impossible, he knew. He had a piece of her and a dark helper. That was more than what other people had. He could do tons of things to anyone he wanted, but he had to treat Luna different. To keep her in his dreams, he’d have to be himself…the person he became when he was in that mind…and that meant he would be dangerous.
There was only one person who had ever witnessed it and lived.
If Luna knew he was the one torturing her in her sleep then she’d wake scared of him, and that wasn’t what he was going for either. He would have to hide his identity and go through with it no matter what. It needed to be done.
She was the key…the missing element.
He got up from the couch, running through the darkness and down the hall. He found his laundry room and rummaged through the dark pockets of the first few outfits sitting on a pile. Finally, he found what he had been looking for—the grass blades stained with Luna’s blood. He stroked them between his fingers as he moved to the room he needed more than ever. The door swung open easily, and the room inside was nearly as dark as the hallway.
The only light came from two blood-red candles in golden candle holders. They threw light up onto the wall over a red pentagram. It had been drawn in blood, the blood of victims past. He dropped to his knees in front of it and crept closer, pushing the bones which covered the floor out of the way in his progress.