CHAPTER FIVE

Luna

Oh, my gods! Do you know this animal? What the hell is going on? I yell at Frank, as I cautiously back away from the ginormous wolf with the glowing yellow eyes. I am beginning to seriously panic now, this was supposed to be a safe place for me to come to. I turn around, hoping without really feeling the hope that if I can make my way home, maybe dad can help me with this whole situation.

Tears are running down my eyes as I run away, my breath hitches and I am weak from all the running I’ve been doing, still, there is one thing I know, I won’t ever stop, even if I fall I will keep on going until I can no longer move, and my inability to move will be because my soul is no longer resident in my body.

A flash of silver and then the breath rushes out of me as I smack a moving wall of muscle, I don’t land on my butt like I should have because Parrish grabs me in time to prevent me from hitting the ground, still, I try to fight him but I am so obviously outclassed that in less than three seconds I am so solidly trapped, it’s unbelievable.

‘You have really being a pain in the ass tonight you know that?’ he snarls at me, ‘I don’t know why we had to ensure you live at any cost, you are just a human girl but your survival has cost the lives of most of the guys I grew up with. So whoever the hell you may be, if you don’t settle down right this instant I will knock you out and you won’t like it one bit’ he finishes, he’s not smiling anymore, rather his face is stonier than when he was up on the cliff.

I don’t say anything, I am trying to catch my breath anyway so I stand looking at him, I don’t protest when he leads me back to the door, where we find Frank who looks so worried until he sees me reappear with Parrish, he lets out an audible sound of relief at seeing me but I am not convinced of anything.

I absolutely love Frank, in fact, he is like family to me, but at this moment I cannot seem to find any space in my heart to see him as a friend. Whatever he has been told, he should have reached out to me, in any case, I reserve judgment for later but I am still not comfortable with him near me and I let him know it when he tries to take my hand in his, I jerk closer to Parrish and he turns mournful brown eyes at me like I have hurt him incredibly.

I immediately feel guilty for that but I am hurt too, I cannot yet process his pain not until I process mine. I want to be selfish for a while. Parrish marches me into the Townsends living room where the rest of the family are seated, Franks parents and his siblings, the eldest son Shane and Kristen, Frank’s younger sister, and the sometimes bane of his existence, I eye them as am led in and pushed unto a couch.

I sit while keeping my eyes down, they seem to want to pretend that I am not a prisoner here but I am. I thought we were family but their betrayal of everything we have had together over the years is something that I cannot forgive.

‘Luna darling here have some hot tea, it’ll take the edge off your cold’ this from Mrs. Townsend, I don’t look at her, I don’t take the cup, my head is bowed and my grief has so intensified that it’s hard to raise my head. At this moment I just want to be left alone.

However, there are things that I need to know too before I make my decision. ‘Can I call my parents please?’ I ask with a voice cracking from the cold, I still don’t seem capable of looking up at any of the people sitting there.

‘not right now you can’t’, Shane snaps at me, I don’t react but I’m thinking something is terribly wrong if I can’t at least talk to my parents especially after all that has happened tonight.

‘shame lay off her, this isn’t her fault, come on Luna let’s get you out of those wet things, you should try to get some sleep, you are safe now’ Kristen croons at me as she helps me off the couch and walks me to the guestroom that I stayed in before, the last time I slept over here.

She deposited me in the room with instructions to take my bath and get some shut-eye. Sleep is the last thing on my mind right now but I definitely need the shower and a new set of clothes, these people have no idea exactly who it is they are dealing with.

In the bathroom I see a pair of scissors which I grab, I stand in front of the mirror and chop off most of my hair which now leaves me with a sort of pixie cut, I clean up the mess then I wash what’s left of my hair while I soak in the hot tub for about twenty minutes, and let me tell you, hot bathing water is humanity’s best invention after the ability to create fire. After the bath, which was thoroughly rejuvenating I go into the room, the door to the closet is slightly ajar, so I snoop.

Wonderfully, I find some outfits there and I select the ones that fit me the most, dark gray and brown camouflage pants, a black tank top, a black turtle neck long-sleeved shirt, a pair of black socks, and a utility belt. There are different variations of the uniform because from what I can see there are different sizes here for males and females. The one I picked is a size too small but it’s better than wearing something baggy and bulky.

I am guessing the Townsends are into some seriously illegal stuff for them to have things like these lying around. It is kind of sad because now it seems that even though we have known them for years we never really knew them all that well.

I dress quickly and lucky for me, I find a pair of combat boots that look disturbingly familiar to what the crazy kidnapper was wearing. I don’t dwell on it though. Once I am done, I go to the door and find it locked, I nod, I was already expecting this, and I stay there for about ten minutes when I hear footsteps coming this way. I pull on a beanie to hide what I did to my hair and then jump into bed; I pull the blanket over me and pretend to be thoroughly asleep.

When the door opens, I smell the citrusy scent of Mrs. Townsend as she moves closer to me, she stands over me as she whispers to someone else who is with her, ‘poor child I really wish there is another way to do all this’.

‘When do we tell her everything, I can’t stand how she was looking at me earlier mom like am some type of monster, she thinks we betrayed her family’ Frank whispers to his mom, my breath almost catches at this but I manage to maintain a steady cadence, hoping they will say more.

‘Are we even sure she is the one? How did you figure it out?’ no one but Shane could sound this acidic and biting. No one says anything for a while after that, seems they are content to watch me sleep.

‘Well I tried to confirm it but she can’t manifest any magic until her sixteenth birthday, right? Well unfortunately someone tried to kidnap her on that same day, that more than anything confirms it for me, she’s the one we’ve been looking for’ this from Frank again.

‘Parrish was with her for a while there on the cliff, did she display anything magical?’

‘no not at all, she seems more like a mundane teenager who is rather good at defending herself from almost anything except when those things are creatures like us, I think everyone is chasing the wrong child. She’s good, but she is not the magic we seek. We should keep looking, except …’ he trails off at this point.

‘Except what?’ Mr. Townsend’s voice is like a mini thunder in the enclosed space, ‘well she should be dead. The temperature of the water she jumped into should have sent her into shock and she should most definitely have not been able to make it here the way she did, I was really surprised too because she timed her fall everything was executed perfectly if I didn’t have my abilities I wouldn’t have been able to track her at all’ he finishes.

‘well you know she has always been strong, she’s in the fight club in school, she is also captain of the track, captain of the volleyball team, and they have won more than they have lost, her whole family is into one form of martial art or the other, she is a third-degree black belt in taekwondo and jiujutsu, her brother’s specialty is judo and karate, she is someone who trains very hard to be the best, better than the average best which is why we get along so well, I don’t think any of us should be surprised by her ability to take care of herself’

I want to smile after listening to Frank endorse me so much but I am ‘sleeping’ also it might be a problem because now they may no longer underestimate me which is going to be a little problem for me should that happen. Still, I’ll do my best to get out of here and find my family.

Soon they all shuffle out of the room and I hear the lock turn again, I have been locked in again, but no problem I won’t be here for long. I think I am beginning to understand what is going on, just a bit though.