Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 54

Luna opened her eyes to the sound of wings flapping, almost a week since she had last seen Trae. She looked around the room, carefully counting her friends. Seeing that they were all peacefully tucked into their sleeping bags, she pulled on a hoodie and stood to find the source of the sound. She grabbed her sword, carefully walking through the near silent house. She stepped outside, the humid air of early autumn washing over her.

She sighed, looking up towards the origin of the sound. It was dark, the closest working street light a few yards away and the sunset streaking the dark sky with the slightest tinge of pink. Even with her modified eyes, it was hard to see when she was sleepy. She rubbed her eyes, and then saw her. There was a girl attempting to balance herself a few feet in the air. The girl had the brightest green eyes Luna had ever seen, the color so vibrant they seemed to glow. Her hair was dark, falling over her face in greasy strands. She was ghostly pale and looked sick. The area around her eyes was red, and her lips looked dry. She had wings spread out behind her, flapping unsurely. Even in the dark, Luna could tell they were different from her own. Luna's wings glowed white in the dark whenever she needed them to, but these wings were a dark ash grey, seeming to be folded in shadow.

Luna blinked, thinking she was dreaming up the sight before her. Maybe she was just projecting her fears and needed to get more sleep. Her muscles ached from the non-stop training and her eyelids felt heavy.

The girl touched down unsteadily, drawing in her wings haphazardly, as if it brought her pain. She was wearing a magenta hoodie with slits cut down the back where her wings would be, and jeans clearly several sizes too big, tied onto her small body with a shoelace and cuffed unevenly, revealing her feet, clad only in old socks. The whole outfit was covered in dirt and what seemed to be blood, the same substances coating her hair. Her face was tear-stained, however void of dirt. She barely looked up from the ground, but those unsettling green eyes had Luna on edge.

Luna held her sword tightly at her side, careful not to startle the girl; now ready for a fight no matter where it would come from. "Who are you?" Luna inquired softly, her voice taking a slight edge as she took a baby step backwards. She studied the girl carefully, her initial look of shock wearing off. There was something malicious about the way she looked at Luna. She looked innocent, with big doe-like eyes and lips tucked into a shy pout, but something was off. Those eyes were filled with so much hate, so much darkness and pain.

"I-I'm Talya..." the girl said, her voice rasping as if she hadn't had any water to drink for a while. "They... they sent me to help..." she trailed off, taking her piercing eyes off of Luna and staring towards the moon. It seemed as though she was drawn to it, unable to keep her eyes off of it.

"Who sent you?" Luna said wearily, bringing up her sword slightly, inconspicuously stepping into a position she could easily fight from.

"They..." Talya whispered, turning her gaze back to the ground, flicking up to Luna's eyes for a split second, then looking back down. Her eyes darted around as if she was trying to remember. "They..." she said again. "They did... they want me to help... stop... him... or... stop them..." She spoke as if she wasn't certain of what she was talking about, as if she was desperately trying to remember a simple script. When she spoke, her voice sounded as though she wasn't breathing in properly, however the steady rise and fall of her chest suggested otherwise.

Luna took another step back. Lloyd then ran out of the house, placing his hands protectively on his sister's shoulders. Luna's heart was racing, her breathing getting heavier with each breath she took. The girl stared at her, each moment her eyes stayed on Luna seeming to drain her resolve.

"Who are you?" Lloyd demanded, not letting the unnatural green eyes throw him off.

"Talya..." she whispered again, this time with a slight smile making her already haunting figure look as though she was from a horror movie. "I'm here to help..."

☆★☆

Luna and Lloyd took Talya to the DoSD as soon as the sun fully disappeared. She didn't object, but was muttering to herself the whole way there. As soon as they were sure someone was looking after her, they started walking back to the Refuge House. The DoSD officials brought Talya inside to question her, and had told Luna and Lloyd to go back to where it was safe.

Lloyd stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk and put his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. He was studying her expression, a strange wide-eyed and worried expression on his face. "Luna, I wanted to tell you this earlier, but now I can't wait another second."

Her heart started to race as she stared at him. "What is it? Lloyd, you're scaring me. Ha-has something happened?" She felt her breath catch through her last sentence.

Lloyd sighed deeply. "Trae's missing."

Luna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth and her knees giving out. She knew she was endangering him every second she stayed around him... she knew she was right to keep him away... she knew it was her fault that this had happened... Her face felt wet with tears, Lloyd squatting down to hug her as her knees dug into the pavement.

"He's been missing for a few days, it's been all over the news. Rafi has been missing for over a month now, ever since he ran away from home."

"Trae wouldn't run... he wouldn't... he promised me he wouldn't..." Her expression changed from one of surprise to one of concern. "He probably went to find Rafi... This is all my fault..."

"Don't blame yourself, we still have no way of knowing what actually happened to him. We'll find him... we already have a lead,"

"Marcus Contreras..." Luna spat. "And the White Sand. And now I suppose, we have another." She glared back towards the building where they had just left Talya.