Labyrinth of White - The Moon Trilogy - Book #1

Chapter sixteen:

"The team has reported back."

"Excellent. What's the news?"

"All agents were accounted for, except for one."

"What!? How could you let this happen? Which one is missing?"

"The only missing agent was Alex, sir."

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"I want Alex found. No matter the cost. Whoever is holding him is going to regret it."

"Yes, sir. I'll get right on it."

"You'd better."

"Yes, sir."

Alex opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything. At first, he panicked, thinking he had gone blind, but then he remembered the events of the day, and how he had burrowed his way into a haystack like a little rat. He groaned. That was even worse than going blind. He could never see his family again.

He reached out a hand and at first felt nothing, but once he reached a little farther, his hand touched a wall of prickly hay. He was still in the haystack and it was still as dark as ever, which meant that no one had discovered his hiding place. Or if they had, they had covered him back up to make him think he was still safe while they went and called the MCD.

He kicked out with his feet, and they broke through the hay and cold moonlight streamed into his little nook. He crawled out of the hole. Every muscle on his body was tense and aching, partly from flying for so long and so hard, and partly from sleeping in such cramped quarters. He groaned again, stretching his legs and arms. He tried flexing his wings. They were the worst of all. He felt as if they were made of lead. He should have landed sooner.

He looked around the field, hoping to gather more information than he'd been able to with his weary half-glances the night before. There was a fence not far off. He saw a square of light in the distance behind it. A farmhouse maybe? Everything was bathed in an eerie white light from the full moon, which was only partially covered in clouds.

Lacking a better plan, Alex started to walk towards what he guessed to be a farmhouse, limping slightly from the soreness of his legs. He passed a barn. There was a lantern just visible through the cracked-open door, shining a slant of orange light onto the bare, dusty ground. He changed courses and approached the barn instead.

He peered through the crack. Warm lantern-light flooded his eyes and it took a moment to adjust. When he did, he saw an ordinary barn, animals sleeping, hay covering a dirt floor, and a rack of tools completely covering one wall.

A young woman stepped out from behind one of the support beams. Alex ducked behind the door, fearful that he had been seen. After staying where he was for a minute, he decided to risk looking again. The woman was standing in front of one of the stalls, whispering gently to the cream colored horse standing there. She was dressed in a long white nightgown. The bottom of it just reached her ankles. It flowed around her, making her appear rather ghost-like. She was also wearing black, muddy rain boots, contrasting sharply to the snow-white nightgown.

Alex leaned against the door, completely forgetting the fear of the earlier moments as he studied the ghostly-looking girl. The huge hinges of the barn door, although new-looking and apparently oiled, squeaked loudly as he forgot himself and let his weight fall forward. The woman whipped around, and he froze just long enough to see the hard look in her flashing eyes before he remembered himself and bolted.