His Moon

XXII | Mizpah

When Kaia emerged from the tree line, the moment felt like a turning point. She could go back and find Kaleb. It honestly seemed like a more logical decision. But if she did that, she'd never find out the truth. She had to remember that she wasn't in this alone. Kaleb was still with her, helping her from the outside. They had to rely on each other, trust each other, even from far apart. The conventional logic she'd lived her life by, the human reasoning she'd been born with, didn't have a place in the reality she lived now. 

When that man had been in her head, she'd felt something. He had given her a distinct oozy feeling. But there was something that stood out, like vines twisting around her and drawing her in where the rest repelled her. She knew that she had to go to him, that there was something he wasn't telling her.

No matter how much she already despised him, she had to know. Maybe it was some psychic connection that she didn't quite understand yet; her snapshots had been getting more vivid, and she'd been able to control them better as of late, but she suspected there were still secrets about herself she didn't know yet. 

Kaia hoped that the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' wouldn't apply to her situation.

☾

"Kaleb, you're trapped in a car with me and no one else. Are you finally going to tell me what's going on?" Lionel asked, shifting in his seat so that he could stare at Kaleb.

Kaleb frowned. It felt like saying it out loud would make it real. My mate is going to meet a murderer, and I'm letting her. "I'm...I don't even know."

"You don't know," Lionel repeated slowly, trying to understand that. After a moment of silence, Lionel's usual sarcasm reared its head, "Wonderful. You do know how that sounds, right?"

"Shitty?" Kaleb offered, taking his eyes off of the road for a moment to assess his friend's expression. Lionel looked his usual self, which was good, Kaleb supposed. It meant he wasn't annoyed or freaking out.

"Pretty much what I was going to say," Lionel said, "Or maybe cryptic?"

"I'm sorry," Kaleb sighed as he turned down a smaller, rockier road.

"Look, Kaleb. I'm your friend...your best friend if I do say so myself. And I do," Lionel said, his voice matter of fact, "So you know I'm on your side no matter what. But right now, all I know is that Kaia is gone, and you're limping around like a kicked dog."

"What?" Kaleb asked, surprised. Did he look that bad? He thought he'd covered it up.

"Them's the facts, Kaleb," Lionel murmured, "You look like death, and you know more than you're telling me."

Kaleb was quiet for a long moment. What was he thinking, honestly? Did he think that he could just...not tell Lionel? He'd find out eventually. Kaleb was going to have to explain the whole story soon enough. "Do you remember when Kaia had that nightmare?" Kaleb asked.

"How could I not?" Lionel asked, "I still have the haunted expression on her face burned into my retinas."

Kaleb clenched his jaw, remembering it. Lionel had pretty much summed it up. Kaia had looked terrified, broken. Gone. He'd been able to bring her back, but he couldn't predict what would happen to her in this murderer's hands. Would he be able to bring her back after this?