Luna's Reckoning

6

LUNA

I was swimming in the water again when I noticed the door on the beach. It was back.

All the happiness and bliss I'd been feeling instantly vanished and all the memories of what had been happening to me, with Lilith and my friends, came back to me and I immediately started to swim to shore again.

I swam with everything I had to reach the door on time. As soon as I reached the shore I sprinted towards it with all my might.

Like before, it kept getting farther and farther away from me, sinking more and more. No matter how fast I ran, it kept getting away from me. It was getting smaller and smaller. I wasn't going to make it in time.

I came to an abrupt halt and watched as the door completely disappeared again.

"Fancy meeting you here."

I jumped and turned around. Sure enough, there was Ed, my guardian angel standing there.

"Where have you been?" I demanded. Before, he'd been appearing to me in my dreams every night and writing messages in this big, white book Lauren had given me but it was like he'd dropped off the face of the earth, right when I really needed him.

"I've been with you," he said matter of factly.

I scowled and crossed my arms over my chest. "Really? I haven't noticed."

He burst out laughing. "You look like a toddler."

"Because I'm mad. Ed, I've been going through hell and back. I've needed you. I really needed you here to help me. My mom's in a coma, Dad and Grandma Marie are in the Mirror Realm, Helen and Johnny went to Limbo. . ." My voice trailed off as tears formed in my eyes.

Ed's expression immediately grew serious and he walked over to embrace me. "I know, Grace. I know. I have been here, I've seen everything. I've been guiding you silently. There are moments where you need to guide yourself. I can't always be there for you."

I looked up at him and let the tears stream freely from my eyes. "I can't do this anymore, Ed. I can't go back. I. . .I don't know what more I can take."

Ed cupped his hand around my cheek and peered into my eyes intently. "You can do this. Grace Marie Johnson, you have the strength to do this, and you're not alone in this. You have me and your friends. You cannot give up. The world depends on you."

I rested my head on his chest. "I feel like I'm letting the world down. I let Anna Marie betray us and take the -"

He gently grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him. "You did not let anyone down. There was no way you could have known. Anna Marie fooled us all. You did not let anyone down."

I wiped my tears from my face and took a cleansing breath. He was right. I

had to be strong. I had to find a way to make it back to my friends. I couldn't give up.

He pointed behind me to the spot where the door had been and I turned to look.

"Next time you see that door, you don't rest until you get to it."

"I will," I promised. "I'm going to keep fighting to come back."

I turned back to face him, but he was gone.