The Fragmented Luna

Into The Forest

"Rowen, is that you", Valerie whispered softly into the cornered off section of the hallway. It was darker out now based on the lack of light that reached inside from the window. I was curled up tightly into a ball with my knees tucked into the too revealing dress. I knew I was ruining the fabric by stretching the material over my knees but I didn't care. I had my red hair covering my face so I could hide the sadness in my heart. I was the one who kept rejecting him but why did it feel like my insides were being torn open. 

"Yes", I croaked out in my weakened state. It hurt to breath air into my lungs with the thought of Nixon fresh in my mind. Valerie rushed over to me brushing back the hair on my face to see my eyes. A fresh set of plump tears fell from my lashes onto her shirt as she rubbed her hand over my back. 

"You have to accept him or it will always be like this", said Valerie. "Have you not noticed the pull you feel towards him until now", she asked in a concerned tone. She had incredulous look upon her face as I shook my head no in response. 

"I keep changing Valerie. I feel it inside of me. Something has shifted and I can feel like I'm about to grasp it but then it fades. It's too complicated right now", I told Valerie as I regained my breathing. "I can't face NIxon until I face myself. The closer I get to the truth the more I feel towards him. It makes thing complicated in case I don't make it out alive", I told her honestly. 

"Oh no Row, I can't even imagine. One day I'll feel the pull but I know what it means. I can't imagine how horrifying it must be for you", she said as she held me tightly. "There has to be a reason that you're starting to remember now?", Valerie questioned to herself out loud. 

"I think I'm starting to figure it out Valerie but I'm afraid of this darkness inside me. It's all an consuming rage that I can't stop. I saw a wolf under the blood moon", I told Valerie softly. Valerie's eyes bore into mine with a masked expression but I could tell she was worried now. "It was a wolf looking at the blood moon that clawed open my face", I said scared about the continuous visions that I kept seeing. Valerie's phone started ringing loudly in the long empty hallway. I could tell that whoever was calling had interrupted Valerie from responding. After a contemplative look at her phone Valerie answered the insistent caller. 

"Ian, Are you here yet?", Valerie asked in a somber tone. I watched Valerie's face as she listened to her brother Ian's response. "Yeah, she's safe but I think you should gather everyone tonight. It's important, alright. See you in a few", Valerie said as she hung up on her brother. She looked at with a sadness that had not been present before. I wondered what I said that caused her to feel so depressed. 

"Wait, I thought we were going to the woods tonight", I said feeling dread for her next response. I wanted to go into the woods to face the person responsible. Valerie pulled me up from the floor with a suspicious look on her face. It was so dark in the school at night that it made everything ten times creepier. It didn't help that the only sound in the eerie building was of our feet as we walked down the empty hallway. I felt like we were walking forever without reaching the front of the classroom. I looked towards Valerie who was concentrating really hard on finding the way out of here. It was the first time I saw real fear on her face as she kept walking in circles.

"We will Rowen but we can't go alone. It isn't safe. I would explain but the darkness is drawing near. Have you noticed we've been trapped in the same loop for quite some time now", Valerie said in a distant tone. She was right; we had passed the same poster for after school soccer tryouts about five times now. I stopped still to listen to the air around us which was cackling with unknown energy. I heard the clack of shoes behind our still bodies getting louder. I felt my scar ripping open as the pain within me set my body on fire. 

"No, I don't want this to happen", I told Valerie darkly. I looked into the moon pendant on my chest clutching it tightly willing this darkness to pass. "inde nobis vincula liberare" I said in a language I had never spoken before. Valerie held onto my hands as the footsteps felt like they were right behind us now. "inde nobis vincula liberare", I repeated stronger this time. I closed my eyes now, just as the hand touching my back now was about to devour me, holding onto the pendant tightly. 

The hand that had been touching my back was gone, the burning of my scar was minimal and the darkness that had been following us was no longer present. I opened my eyes to see a trembling Valerie still holding my hand with an unknown fear there. 

"What was that? Are your visions always so realistic? Was that real", Valerie questioned with a shaky voice. I tightened my grip around her hand in an effort to comfort her but I was shaking myself. "I've never been close to anything that strong before", Valerie said as she breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

"I don't know what came over me", I told Valerie truthfully. I felt disturbed by the fact that I could speak a language when I was never taught. If i thought back to the past I realized that those words were very familiar to me. I remembered my mother had spoken those words as she had placed 'magic' into the moon pendant I wore. "I think it was my mother protecting me. She used to whisper those words when she weaved her magic", I told her honestly. 

"I don't know Rowen but we should get home before we have to use them again", Valerie said softly. I seconded that motion; we needed to get the hell out of here before any other crazy crap could happen. I felt something trickling down my face as Valerie led me out of the building. It was so dark that we couldn't see anything until we found the exit to the school finally. I felt woozy like all my energy had been drained by what just happened. When the light finally hit my face I saw Valerie look at me with horror in her expression. 

"You're bleeding", she said. I touched my hand to my face to see blood pooling onto them at a rapid pace.