The Fragmented Luna

The Paint Room

I entered the place in which I had spent my many years as Rowen Whitley living with my dysfunctional Aunt Tabby. If I had to say anything about my time with Aunt Tabby it was that I had lived a relatively normal human life. I had not made many friends but spent most of my time painting in this room. Aunt Tabby had made awful food that I abhorred but we had tried to love each other. 

It was easy to find shelter within this room that Aunt Tabby had built to keep me happy. In fact it was Ann who had told Aunt Tabby that art would be a great way for me to express my emotion properly. I had enjoyed those day of meeting with Ann for therapy then returning home to my shelter. The shelter that I had found through my artwork all those years ago no longer existed. 

I was little Gabriella Nunez, whose parents were murdered in the woods, who couldn't remember anything that happened. I was kidding myself all these years by pretending to be anything else but that sad little girl. As I approached the paint room I felt a cold darkness emanating from within the room. It was so intense that I could see the air with every breath I took as we approached my paint room.

The first thing I saw was that the door to the painting room was still ripped from its hinges. As I entered I noted that it looked like Aunt Tabby had tried to clean the inside of the room. The wall had been scrubbed clean so that the blood splattered phrase was no longer there. No amount of cleaning would return this room into the shelter that it used to be. 'I will find it' I recalled as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. As I rubbed my finger over the necklace I felt strength within myself to push forward past the darkness. 

I dragged Valerie over to my painting of the woods that was now covered with blood to ask her my questions. We both stared at the painting of the night sky which held different memories for the both of us. Valerie looked at the painting with sadness as she moved her hand over the bench in one of the panels. I knew Valerie would recognize that bench because it was in the photograph she showed me that time. I looked at the painting longingly wanting to recall the memories that had only grown stronger as I got older. 

"I remember that picture like it was yesterday", Valerie said softly as she recalled her personal memories of the forest. "We were so innocent back then. Our parents had warned us not to play outside alone but we didn't care. Skylar who was the oldest of us went to the forest one night but never returned", Valerie said as tears drenched her eyes.

The angle the light came in through the window brought out the wild features of her eyes. There was so much grief in those eyes but also great strength. In this moment, I could see the wolf within her peeking through as if she were howling at the moon. The sadness she felt was only amplified by the darkness of the room. This room had been touched by evil and evil always left a trail behind.

"I'm so sorry about your loss", I said as I reached out to comfort her. Instead of Valerie accepting the comfort I was offering her, she turned with an angered expression that I didn't understand. She was pacing around the room now like she wanted to say something she had been holding in this whole time. Suddenly she stopped moving as she put on an impassive expression directed towards me. 

"It is what it is. I just miss the freedom of those days" Valerie said somberly. "But that's not what I came here for tonight", Valerie said in a darker tone.

"Yes", I said softly. I remembered the original reason I invited Valerie over tonight which was to ask her about the woods. "You said you were going to give me some answers. But things are different now. I want to know what happened to my parents" i said sadly. I was hoping she could give me more insight into what had happened to me all those years ago.  I felt like Valerie was the answer to all the questions that plagued me throughout the years. 

"Ah, the woods. What should you need to ask me?", she said looking at me with a puzzled expression. "You were there that night. What could I tell you that you don't already know", Valerie said dismissively. I wasn't used to Valerie treating me so unkindly but maybe she had reasons I didn't understand.

"I don't remember anything", I said softly. "I lost my memories. The only thing I can remember is snippets of my birthdays, my mom, and jumbled images of that night in the forest. I was hoping you could help me remember", I rambled on softly. Valerie looked at me with wide eyes as if something finally clicked in her brain. 

"It all makes sense now", Valerie said in a rushed tone. "I thought that we knew each other. On that first day of school I waved at you but you just walked right past me. And then in class later that day someone called you Rowen. After that I accepted that you weren't Gabby", she said as she used my nickname casually. 

"I've never met you before though", I said to her honestly. "And I didn't see you waving at me that first day. I was recovering from physical and emotional trauma. I didn't pay attention to anything the first few years I was here", I told her with a sad expression on my face.

"I can't believe this at all", Valerie said as she threw her hands in the air in frustration. "We grew up together as children. Our parents were friends", she spoke with an unsteady voice as she saw my confused expression. Everything Valerie was telling me felt like pages from a story of someone else's life. 

"I'm sorry", I croaked out hoarsely as the tears ran down my cheeks. The scar on my face started burning like it was being ripped apart. The throbbing purple mass made my face feel heavy but I fought through the pain this time. "Our parents never met. I grew up right next to Pine Hills. My mother read me stories and brushed my hair at night. My father was there when I blew out my birthday cake. I had a dog. I was happy", I said to her rambling. I felt a deep pain in both my facial scar and one on my stomach. Something was happening to my body that I couldn't control as the burning spread. 

"No Rowen. Those memories are wrong. Your life was anything but happy. ", Valerie said as she clenched my hand tightly. She looked like she was going to say something but horror etched onto her features. "We have to go right now. Something is here and it's coming for you", she said in a strange voice. The scar on my face was on fire now as whatever was coming for me drew closer. "Now", Valerie said as she broke open the nearby window. The last thing I remembered was her ripping my body through the broken window glass as I succumbed to darkness.